Real Betis 2-4 Barcelona: Player ratings as Ferran Torres hat trick seals important win for underfire Xavi
A hat trick from Ferran Torres and a stunning finish from substitute Joao Felix secured a vital win for Xavi Hernandez and Barcelona on Sunday.
Xavi's role at the club had been called into question following a spate of poor performances, however he would've been buoyed by his side's strong showing in the first half of the clash with Real Betis. Ferran Torres gave Barca the lead in a dominant first 45, and doubled said lead with a volley at the start of the second 45 too.
Things went pear-shaped after that thanks to Isco. The former Real Madrid man bagged a stunning brace to make it 2-2 around the hour mark, before Felix came off the bench to score a late third, and Ferran completed his hat trick with an even later fourth to give Barca a 4-2 win.
Real Betis started the game brightly, exploiting Barcelona's defensive frailties almost immediately from kick-off, with Isco dinking the ball over the out-of-form Ronald Araujo and the 16-year-old Pau Cubarsi to play Luiz Henrique clean through on goal.
The Brazilian, still waiting for his first La Liga goal of the season, was unable to convert however, lofting the ball over the onrushing Inaki Pena and also narrowly over the crossbar.
Barca found a way to wrestle control of the game thereafter, keeping the ball well and attempting to find routes in behind Betis's defence. They found exactly that in the 21st minute when, rather fortunately, an attempted cross-field pass from Ilkay Gundogan deflected perfectly into the path of Pedri on the right of the penalty box. The Spain international was then able to cleverly square to Ferran Torres, who made no mistake when presented with an open goal — tapping casually in to the back of the net.
The visitors came within a whisker of
Read on 90min.com
