Lewandowski strikes twice as Barcelona beat Girona to take LaLiga lead

Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (left) scores during their LaLiga match against Girona in Barcelona on Sunday. (AP pic)BARCELONA: Barcelona thumped visitors Girona 4-1 in the Catalan derby on Sunday after Robert Lewandowski netted twice in the second half to move Hansi Flick’s side three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga.The victory moved Barcelona to 66 points from 29 games as 36-year-old Lewandowski — who scored twice after the score was tied at 1-1 – extended his tally at the top of LaLiga’s scoring chart to 25 goals, three clear of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.“I know a lot of people talk about my age, but I work as hard as I did when I was 21 and I want to play for more seasons,” Lewandowski said with a smile.“At the moment I’m feeling great physically and if you look at the numbers they’re the same as they’ve always been.”Barcelona predictably dominated the opening stages as Fermin Lopez and Lewandowski tested Paulo Gazzaniga in Girona’s goal with two early shots.Moments later, Lopez went down on the edge of the box and the referee awarded a free kick but when VAR asked him to review his decision for a potential penalty, he gave Girona a free kick instead, much to the shock of the Barcelona players.Jules Kounde had a goal disallowed when he strayed offside as Girona had no answer to Barca’s forays into the box but Gazzaniga stood strong to deny the home side time and again, making four crucial saves in the first half alone.However, the Argentine keeper could only stand and watch when Yamal’s free kick was deflected in off Girona defender Ladislav Krejci for an own goal two minutes before the break.Girona, however, struck back after the restart against the run of play when they won the ball back in midfield and Dutch forward Arnaut Danjuma curled his shot past Wojciech Szczesny in goal.Barcelona did not panic and they restored their lead just after the hour-mark when Lopez headed a ball across the box and Lewandowski converted with an acrobatic finish at the far post.Lewandowski then made it 3-1 in the 77th minute from a counter-attack when Frenkie de Jong found him in the box and the Polish striker curled a low shot past Gazzaniga.Substitute Ferran Torres made it 4-1 when he expertly controlled a pass from the wing with a sublime first touch before finding the bottom corner while Yamal nearly made it five, only to see his curling shot cannon off the crossbar.“It’s very clear to see that when they had the ball this afternoon, it wasn’t easy for us. We knew we were up against a great team,” Danjuma said.“After I scored, I thought we could take something from the game, we could pressure them a little bit more. But then they got their second, they got their third… and then it became very difficult.”

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Lewandowski strikes twice as Barcelona beat Girona to take LaLiga lead

The veteran Polish striker extends his tally at the top of LaLiga’s scoring chart to 25 goals, three clear of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.

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