Lewandowski’s late penalty gives Barcelona 2-1 win

PAMPLONA: Robert Lewandowski’s late penalty earned Barcelona a hard-fought 2-1 win at Osasuna on Sunday as the defending La-Liga champion secured its third consecutive victory after starting the season with a goalless draw at Getafe.

Barcelona started well and almost scored in the second minute when a Frenkie de Jong shot bounced off the post and Lewandowski stroked the rebound wide, from close range with an empty goal.

Ilkay Gundogan also wasted a golden opportunity a few minutes later when he miscued a loose ball inside the box after a Lamine Yamal strike was blocked by a wall of defenders.

The host had a good chance to score through Aimar Oroz, but Barca goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen made a fine one-handed save to deflect his close-range strike around the post.

Osasuna goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez also made a fine stop to deny the 19-year-old Gavi, who became the youngest player to reach 100 matches for Barcelona.

Barcelona took the lead with a Jules Kounde header from a corner by Gundogan in added-time before the break, but Chimy Avila equalised in the 76th minute by unleashing an unstoppable curling shot from the edge of the box which flew into the back of the net off the right post.

But five minutes later, right after new-recruits Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix came off the bench to make their debuts, Barca were awarded a penalty when Alejandro Catena grabbed Lewandowski’s right arm inside the box.

The defender was shown a red card for the last-man foul and the Polish striker slotted home the spot-kick with a tidy finish to the goalkeeper’s left.

“We lacked quality play and patience,” Barca manager Xavi Hernandez said, “We need to create more in the attack. We worked hard, suffered too much, but earned what were three very difficult points.”

Barca are third in the La-Liga standings on 10 points, level with Girona. They trail leaders Real Madrid by two points.