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12/06 13:45 CST Torres hat trick in Barcelona rout of Betis in La Liga
Torres hat trick in Barcelona rout of Betis in La Liga
By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) --- Ferran Torres scored a hat trick, Lamine Yamal
converted a penalty and Roony Bardghji shone in a rare start as Barcelona
roared back to win at Real Betis 5-3 in La Liga on Saturday.
Barcelona's rout of fifth-placed Betis in Seville increased its lead to four
points over Real Madrid before it hosts Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Torres has grown from a bench player to become Hansi Flick's most used striker.
The Spain forward has more starts than Robert Lewandowski, who at 37 is seeing
his playing time reduced.
Torres leads Barcelona in scoring with 13 goals, 11 coming in La Liga. Only
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbapp with 16 has more goals in the domestic league.
Bardghji impressed in his third start since the 20-year-old Sweden winger
joined Barcelona from Copenhagen in the summer. His dribbling was electric, and
he provided a cross for Torres to score the go-ahead goal before he made it 3-1
with a powerful strike from just inside the area.
Lewandowski and Raphinha never left the bench for Barcelona. That will leave
both rested for when Barcelona hosts Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday in the
Champions League.
Anthony put Betis ahead in the sixth minute at Benito Villamarin Stadium. But
Barcelona hit right back through Torres.
Torres slipped behind the defensive line to tap in a squared pass from Jules
Kound.
Torres scored again two minutes later when he acrobatically volleyed a cross
from Bardghji between the legs of goalkeeper Alvaro Valls. After Bardghji
scored in the 31st for 3-1, Torres made it a treble in the 40th when his shot
from outside the area took a deflection off a defender and wrong-footed Valls.
Yamal on the inside The game featured a tactical novelty for Barcelona: Yamal spent most of the match playing in an interior, creative midfield role rather than on the right wing. Yamal remained in sync with his teammates, participating in the passing move that led to Torres' first goal. He converted the penalty in the 59th for Barcelona's fifth after a shot by Marcus Rashford hit the raised arm of Marc Bartra. Betis eased the pain with late goals by Diego Llorente and Cucho Hernndez's penalty after Kound fouled Abde in the box. Rashford had a golden chance to make it six for Barcelona on a solo break only to drag his shot wide with only Valls to beat. Manuel Pellegrini's Betis was flying high coming into the game having beaten fierce city rival Sevilla in the previous round and was unbeaten in eight games overall. Betis will be overtaken by Espanyol on Sunday if it gets a draw with Rayo Vallecano. Fermn Lpez returned as a second-half substitute after the Barcelona midfielder missed two games with a leg injury.
Villarreal right behind Tajon Buchanan and Georges Mikautadze scored to help Villarreal beat Getafe 2-0 and stay in third place, one point behind Madrid. Alaves upset Real Sociedad 1-0 in a Basque Country regional derby. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Yamal on the inside The game featured a tactical novelty for Barcelona: Yamal spent most of the match playing in an interior, creative midfield role rather than on the right wing. Yamal remained in sync with his teammates, participating in the passing move that led to Torres' first goal. He converted the penalty in the 59th for Barcelona's fifth after a shot by Marcus Rashford hit the raised arm of Marc Bartra. Betis eased the pain with late goals by Diego Llorente and Cucho Hernndez's penalty after Kound fouled Abde in the box. Rashford had a golden chance to make it six for Barcelona on a solo break only to drag his shot wide with only Valls to beat. Manuel Pellegrini's Betis was flying high coming into the game having beaten fierce city rival Sevilla in the previous round and was unbeaten in eight games overall. Betis will be overtaken by Espanyol on Sunday if it gets a draw with Rayo Vallecano. Fermn Lpez returned as a second-half substitute after the Barcelona midfielder missed two games with a leg injury.
Villarreal right behind Tajon Buchanan and Georges Mikautadze scored to help Villarreal beat Getafe 2-0 and stay in third place, one point behind Madrid. Alaves upset Real Sociedad 1-0 in a Basque Country regional derby. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
