Barcelona tame Bilbao with a brace from Raphinha and Fermin on a night of misfortune for Yamal
Lamine assists, shoots and hits the crossbar
Barcelona continued their strong start in the Spanish league, securing a valuable 2-0 win over their guests Athletic Bilbao at the Camp Nou in La Liga.
Two men delivered this victory. Raphinha broke the deadlock in the 38th minute after a magical pass from Pedri, and Fermín López settled matters with a second goal on 81, handing coach Hansi Flick a deserved three points against a stubborn opponent.
First half: Simón shines and VAR denies Barcelona
Barcelona started with early pressure, and Raphinha almost threatened the visitors' goal in the first minute, only to be flagged offside. Athletic Bilbao hit back quickly through a dangerous run from Williams in the 4th minute, who surged forward on the left flank and delivered a ball that Cubarsí cleared for a corner.
The hosts won their first corner in the 7th minute after a clever pass from Lamine Yamal towards Anthony Gordon, who stumbled over it. Yamal took his first attempt three minutes later, a powerful ball that passed relatively wide of Unai Simón's goal.
In the 13th minute, Fermín López led an organised attack, feeding Eric García and on to Lamine Yamal, who delivered an easy ball into the goalkeeper's hands. Fermín returned to lead another dangerous attack in the 15th minute with a pass to Raphinha, who failed to control it.
Yamal kept trying. He almost opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a dangerous shot that Simón kept out with difficulty, before the post denied him a certain goal in the 24th minute after a well-executed header from Alejandro Baldé's cross.
Simón continued to shine in the 26th minute, dealing with another delivery from Baldé. Pedri then had a goal disallowed in the 29th minute for offside against Lamine Yamal, and Fermín López tried his luck from a direct free kick in the 34th minute after a fine pass.
Relief finally came in the 38th minute. Pedri sent a magical pass to Raphinha, who found the back of Simón's net. Williams then led a dangerous Basque counter-attack in the 39th minute that Marc Bernal snuffed out at the right moment.
Yamal squandered the chance of a second goal in the 41st minute after breaking clean through, with Simón making a brilliant save.
Second half: Yamal's crossbar and Rodri's appearance
Barcelona came out for the second half with the same enthusiasm. Raphinha almost doubled the lead in the 48th minute after a through ball into the depth struck Bilbao's defence, and in the 51st minute Lamine Yamal robbed the visitors' defence and struck it powerfully off Simón's crossbar in the most dangerous chance of the match.
The Basque goalkeeper kept shining and rescued his side from a second goal in the 54th minute after a powerful shot from Fermín López. That prompted Hansi Flick to make two substitutions, withdrawing Marc Bernal and Raphinha for Rodri and Dani Olmo, in the former's first appearance.
Athletic Bilbao dug in over the following minutes. Yet despite a well-executed delivery from Lamine Yamal in the 67th minute that Olmo met with an easy header into Simón's hands, and a shot from Anthony Gordon in the 72nd minute that passed by the goal, Barcelona finally sealed the win.
Fermín López grabbed Barcelona's second in the 81st minute, killing off Bilbao's hopes and handing his side a deserved victory that confirmed their readiness to keep competing for the title.
Nothing much happened in the final minutes. Both sides seemed to have surrendered to the result, despite the referee awarding four minutes of stoppage time, and the match ended 2-0 in favour of the Blaugrana.
