Barcelona moved into third place in La Liga after beating Elche 2-1 on Sunday, with Memphis Depay scoring a late penalty to seal a hard-fought victory.
Elche took a surprising lead in Martínez Valero when Fidel capitalized on a Pedri error at the stroke of half-time, but Barca came back thanks to two substitutes.
Depay turned Ferran Torres from close range an hour before scoring a penalty in the 84th minute when the striker drew Elche’s Antonio Barragán in a handball.
“It looked like we were going to lose a game we didn’t deserve to lose. We deserved to win by more than one goal,” said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez.
The victory sends Barcelona two points above Real Betis and three points ahead of Atletico Madrid in the table, before Betis and Atletico face each other in a crucial battle for the top four on Sunday.
It also continues an impressive run for Xavi’s side, who have not lost in the league since December and have come into the game for the first time since 2017 after scoring four times in three consecutive matches.
When Xavi was appointed in November, Barcelona were ninth, but they can now properly set their eyes on Sevilla, who are only seven points ahead of second.
“We have had four wins in a row, it hasn’t happened in a long time, it’s a good sign. The players believe in what we are doing. We are on the right track,” Xavi said.
Barcelona had better chances in the first half, the best of them falling to Frankie de Jong, who fell behind but failed to beat Edgar Badia.
Usman Dembele then sprinted clear and his lifted shot was dismissed to de Jong, who was followed-up by Diego González off the line.
Elche then landed a sucker-punch a minute before half-time as Barca failed to tackle a straight-forward goal-kick downfield and amid confusion, Pedri poked the ball back, through his defense and into Fidel’s. Medium from. Fidel took a touch and fired a shot into the far corner.
Barcelona equalized the hour when they worked the ball from left to right, where Dembele stepped over the line and hung a cross. Jordi Alba was unable to catch the ball cleanly, but Torres was ready to go all the way inside.
Elche was exhausting, Barca were pushing for a winner and they got their chance in the 82nd minute as Depay circled around Barragan, the ball lifted and Barragan instinctively raised his hand to meet him. .
The referee saw the replay, pointed to the spot, and Depay swung the penalty into the top corner.
There was more late play to come, as both Alba and Sergio Busquets were relieved that penalty claims for handballs had been removed before Guido Carrillo’s corner headed in the 94th minute. Marc-Andre ter Stegen dived and Barca went ahead.
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