Lewandowski's penalty saved Barca
In the 81st minute, Frenkie De Jong waved the ball to Lewandowski in the penalty area and was pulled down by Alejandro Catena. Referee Miguel Ortiz gave the Osasuna midfielder a yellow card and gave the away team a penalty. After that, he went to the border to review VAR, determined that Lewandowski did not receive the ball with his hand, and at the same time removed the yellow card and showed Catena a red card.
On the 11m mark, Lewandowski shot in a flabby style to the right corner, opposite the judgment of goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez. This is Lewandowski's second goal in the first four La Liga matches this season. In the previous round, the Polish striker also shined with a cushion into an empty net in the 71st minute, sealing a 4-3 victory at Villarreal.
At El Sadar Stadium, coach Xavi continued to give opportunities to 16-year-old player Lamine Yamal on the right wing. On the opposite wing is Gavi - who played his 100th match for Barca in all competitions (scoring 6 and assisting 11 goals), and is the first player born since 2004 to reach this milestone for a club in the top five national leagues. Europe.
The midfield is a combination of the trio Frenkie De Jong, Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gundogan. Pedri continues to be absent due to injury, while two popular rookies Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix - the Portuguese duo recruited on the last day of the summer market - are substitutes and only come on in the second half.
In the last seven trips of Osasuna in La Liga, Barca are unbeaten (won 4, drew 3). And this time, they continued to show their superior position by controlling the ball 71%, finishing nine times with four hits on target. At 52 seconds, De Jong put his heart on the post, and then Lewandowski kicked out in front of the empty goal. In the 10th minute, it was Gundogan's turn to miss an opportunity in the penalty area with a deflected ball.
The effort to force the pitch was concretized by Barca with the goal in the first minute of compensation. From Gundogan's corner, centre-back Jules Kounde headed the corner, just beyond Fernandez's reach.
However, the inability to fully exploit their advantage in the game caused Barca to experience difficult moments. In the 76th minute, in the first dangerous ball situation in the second half, the home team suddenly found an equalizer. Ezequiel Avila received the ball unmarked in front of the penalty area. He moved the ball to his left foot and curled it into the net, causing Marc-Andre ter Stegen to give up.
Barca then had to step up the attack, press continuously and finally win thanks to Lewandowski's penalty. This result helps them to hold the top of the table with 12 absolute points, two points above Girona and Real Madrid.
After a break to make room for the national team, Barca met Betis in round five of La Liga on September 16 and Antwerp in the opening match of Group H Champions League on September 19, both at Camp Nou.
Osasuna: Fernandez; Areso (Vidal 80), Catena, Herrando, Cruz; Ibanez (Moncayola 72), Munoz, Oroz; Ruben Garcia (Barja 61), Raul Garcia (Budimir 62), Arnaiz (Avila 62).
Barca: Ter Stegen; Roberto (Cancelo 59), Kounde, Christensen (Martinez 90), Balde; De Jong, Romeu (Felix 80), Gundogan; Yamal (Torres 59), Lewandowski (Raphinha 90), Gavi.
