Barcelona, the defending champion and leader, continued its full mark with its great victory over its host Valencia 5-0, in the fourth stage of the Spanish Football League on Sunday.
Barcelona clinched the victory against the “Bats” at the “Mestalla” stadium in the first half with two stunning goals scored by Lamine Yamal (9) and Fermin Lopez (22), before adding a hat-trick in the second through Brazilian Rafinha (50), Pedri (79) and Yamal, who concluded the scoring display for his team (84) in a match that witnessed the entry of the Brazilian newcomer Gabriel Jesus in the 80th minute.
It is the third match this season in which Barcelona beats its rivals by five goals after defeating Elche 5-0 at the start of its title defense campaign, and Rayo Vallecano 5-2, including a victory over Athletic Bilbao 2-0.
Barcelona raised its score to 12 points from 4 matches, 3 points ahead of its rival and runner-up last season, Real Madrid, which suffered its first loss at the hands of Real Betis 0-1 on Friday at the opening of the stage.
After suffering a minor injury in training before the starting whistle, doubts arose about Yamal's participation, which he quickly dispelled by opening the scoring in the sixth minute with a dropped ball from outside the penalty area with his left foot, before the referee canceled his second goal due to offside (8).
Yamal waited until the end of the second half and received a perfect pass from Dani Olmo to score his fourth goal this season (84).
Lopez, who scored the first goal, had doubled the score earlier after another run from Yamal (22nd), before passing the ball to his captain Rafinha, who scored his sixth goal in four matches (49th).
Pedri raised his team's lead to 4 goals with a low shot with his right foot after exchanging the ball with Olmo (79), before Yamal concluded the scoring festival.
German coach Hansi Flick's team will host its Dutch rival Feyenoord on Wednesday at the start of its campaign in the unified group stage of the Champions League competition, the title of which is the declared goal of the Catalan club this season.
As for Valencia, which struggled to avoid relegation in the past two seasons, it languishes at the bottom of the standings with one point from four matches.
Later, Alaves will play against Osasuna, Malaga will play against Levante, and Espanyol will play against Sevilla.
The stage concludes on Monday with meetings between Getafe and Celta Vigo, and Elche and Real Sociedad.
Slovenian substitute Benjamin Sisko believed that he had given his Manchester United team its second victory in the new season of the English Premier League, but Everton saved a point at home by equalizing 2-2 in the dead time through a substitute also, the newcomer Ainsley Maitland-Niles, on Sunday, in the third stage.
United, which finished third last season and thus returned to participate in the Champions League, began its campaign with a loss at Hull City, but turned its deficit in the second stage against Ipswich Town into a major victory 5-2.
He thought he had achieved the second victory when Cisco responded to the equalizer scored by Tyreek George in the 83rd minute, giving the visitors the lead in the 88th minute, but Maitland-Niles fired a wonderful ball from outside the area and saved the “Toffees” from their first defeat.
United started the match with an opportunity for their Portuguese captain Bruno Fernandes, who scored a hat-trick in the last stage against Ipswich, but luck was against him after his shot rebounded off the crossbar (8).
Seconds later, Everton demanded a penalty kick in favor of Frenchman Tierno Barney, but the referee did not give him what he wanted (9), and then the goalkeepers had no real chances until the 43rd minute, when Barry also threatened the visitors’ goal with a header, but the ball went over the crossbar of Belgian goalkeeper Signe Lamins.
United struck early at the beginning of the second half and opened the scoring with a beautiful shot by Cameroonian Brian Mbomo, which he fired from the outskirts of the penalty area to the right corner of Jordan Pickford's goal (46).
The score remained the same despite some timid attempts by both teams, until the 83rd minute when Tyreek George fired a wonderful missile into Lammens' goal, equalizing for former United coach David Moyes' Scottish side.
But the “Red Devils” did not give up, and with a pass from Fernandes to Luke Shaw, the latter played a cross that reached substitute Cisco, who headed it into Pickford’s net (88).
When coach Michael Carrick's team was preparing to celebrate the victory, Maitland-Niles, who entered in the 77th minute, snatched the equalizer with a wonderful shot from the outskirts of the area to the upper right corner (6 + 90), thus achieving his best start with his new team, to which he moved on the last day of the summer transfer period from Lyon, France.
