Robert Lewandowski’s Goal Secures Barcelona’s 1-0 Victory Over Getafe in La Liga
Robert Lewandowski’s brilliant performance helped La Liga leaders, FC Barcelona to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Getafe on Wednesday.
The first-half goal by the Polish striker gave Barcelona their seventh straight victory of the year and extended their winning run. Following Real Madrid’s victory against Alaves earlier in the week, Barcelona’s lead over rival Real Madrid was increased to four points with this outcome.
On Wednesday, Robert Lewandowski maintained his excellent play to help La Liga leaders Barcelona defeat Getafe 1-0. The Polish forward’s close-range goal in the first half gave Barca their seventh league win of the season, preserving their perfect record. Barcelona maintained a four-point advantage over Real Madrid, who defeated Alaves on Tuesday, despite their inability to extend their lead.
Defenseman Jules Kounde told Movistar, “You can’t always win by a lot of goals.”
“I believe the crucial aspect is that we created numerous opportunities once more and secured the three points… Getafe is consistently a difficult team to manage.”
After Marc-Andre ter Stegen missed months due to a serious knee injury, coach Hansi Flick started Inaki Pena in goal and substituted Marc Casado and Alejandro Balde back into the starting lineup.
The supporters behind his goal cheered for the backup goalkeeper, who gave up 32 goals in 17 games in all competitions the previous season. He also made a save on an early header from Carles Perez.
On the other hand, Barcelona’s first goal came from his opposite number David Soria’s careless touch on Kounde’s cross, which allowed Lewandowski to score from close range.
The 36-year-old striker, who struggled at times last season but appears revived under Flick, leads the scoring charts with seven goals in La Liga this season.
Reporters were told by Flick, who also coached him at Bayern Munich, “that he’s the best number nine of the last ten years.”
“His job is in front of the goal, in the box, and he’s doing that great.”
Teenage beauty Lamine Yamal narrowly missed the post, but Raphinha’s play may have given him a second chance to double the lead moments later. Raphinha, who was awarded August player of the month prior to kickoff, came close to sending another effort wide, but Soria made a nice save.
Before the clock struck the hour, Yamal nearly bent home a wonderful curling strike, but Soria pushed it over the crossbar. In a desperate attempt to end the match, Barcelona sent in a second goal, but the Getafe goalie also deflected a dangerous Raphinha free kick around the post.
Yamal, the Euro 2024 hero from Spain, cruelly struck the top of the crossbar from a distance as Barcelona began to complain about Getafe’s incessantly strong challenges.
In the closing moments, Raphinha wasted a fantastic opportunity by heading wide following a deft dart into the area, but Barcelona got away with their irresponsibility.
Getafe, currently ranked 19th, has yet to win a game and squandered a great opportunity late on when Borja Mayoral was well-positioned and free inside the box but was unable to convert the opportunity. Luis Milla, a midfielder for Getafe, said, “We have to be more decisive in the area. We didn’t put away our chances.” Only three goals have been scored by the Madrid team this season.
“It’s clear we have to improve there, I’m sure the team will end up scoring,” Milla said.
Next up for the leaders is a trip to Osasuna on Saturday, followed by a derby between rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on Sunday, which puts Real Madrid in second place.
Even with a number of well-known players sidelined due to injuries, Flick’s team has improved since his arrival.
“He’s a coach who is very sure how he wants to play (and) we’re understanding it well,” said Kounde.
“The team is having fun in practice, and we feel at ease throughout the matches.
“He’s a very demanding coach and that’s suiting us well.”
