Lamine Yamal hits double as Barcelona thrash Girona to maintain perfect start

Barcelona made it five wins out of five in La Liga after Lamine Yamal's first-half double put them on the way to a 4-1 win at Girona on Sunday. Hansi Flick's side had destroyed Real Valladolid 7-0 before the international break and followed up with another impressive result against their Catalan rivals who defeated them twice last season. Teenager Yamal opened the scoring after 30 minutes with a tidy finish before adding another seven minutes later to put Barca in control. Second-half goals followed from Dani Olmo and Pedri while substitute Cristhian Stuani scored a consolation for the home side 10 minutes from time with a first-time finish inside the penalty area. Victory moved Barcelona four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, the reigning champions had earned a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday. Girona were last season's surprise package, finishing third in only their fourth season in the top-flight but lost several key players in the summer with coach Michel Sanchez forced to rebuild. Barcelona have new momentum under former Bayern Munich and Germany coach Flick and produced their best performance of his reign to date. “I think you can see the confidence we have, and when we have the ball, we have the quality to play and to create chances,” Flick said. “I think today we had a lot of chances to score one or two goals more, but in the end, I'm very happy with the performance of the team. “We started very concentrated, very focused, we pressed them – we know when we give them the space they need for combinations we get in trouble. You saw the first goal, it was unbelievably good [pressing] from Lamine.” Yamal and striker Robert Lewandowski came close in the opening exchanges before the teenage star, who led Spain to Euro 2024 victory in the summer, broke the deadlock. The winger picked the pocket of David Lopez as he tried to bring the ball out of defence, before finishing with aplomb past Paulo Gazzaniga after 30 minutes. Yamal grabbed his second before the break with a fine guided finish from the edge of the box after a free-kick was cleared into his path. Bryan Gil fired straight at Marc-Andre ter Stegen from close range at the other end, before Girona were awarded a penalty when Inigo Martinez handled the ball. However, after a VAR referral, the referee reversed his decision, seeing that it had bounced on to Martinez's arm off teammate Alejandro Balde. Olmo e Barcelona's lead early in the second half with a sublime finish from a tight angle, leaving the new arrival from RB Leipzig on three goals from three La Liga matches. Gazzaniga denied Lewandowski as he ran through on goal and tried to finish with a dink, as Barcelona maintained control. Their fourth came through Pedri when midfielder Marc Casado cleverly played him through and the Canary Islander took his time to sidestep Gazzaniga and finish. Former Espanyol striker Stuani finished from close range with 10 minutes remaining to give Girona a consolation before Barcelona substitute Ferran Torres was sent off for a high tackle on Yaser Asprilla. They were the only blots on Barcelona's otherwise pristine copybook as they maintained their 100 per cent record at the start of the campaign. Girona are seventh after the defeat, with their next match a Champions League debut away at Paris Saint-Germain. “It feels bad, it was a tough defeat today, for how we were preparing for the game and the excitement of facing Barca again at home,” Stuani told Movistar. “We have to try to forget about it as quickly as possible, this week we have a very special game, we have to face that with as much excitement as possible because for us it's a historic match. “We have to turn the page on today and try to compete in the best way [we can].”

Lamine Yamal hits double as Barcelona thrash Girona to maintain perfect start

Flick's side make it five wins from five La Liga games so far this season