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E-mail Xinhua, April 21, 2025
Raphinha scored a 98th-minute penalty as FC Barcelona came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 at home to Celta Vigo and move seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Frenkie De Jong(L) of FC Barcelona vies with Pablo Duran of Celta Vigo during the Laliga football match between FC Barcelona and Celta Vigo, in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19, 2025. (Photo by Joan Gosa/Xinhua)
Celta Vigo striker Borja Iglesias hit a magnificent hat-trick that had threatened to derail Barca's title challenge, before two goals in four minutes and the late penalty saw Barca turn the game around.
Barcelona made a formal complaint over kick-off times giving them little time to recover between matches. After Ferran Torres gave the home side an early lead, it was easy to see why Barca needed a rest as they gave another flat performance - at least before halftime.
A rare error from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny gifted Iglesias an easy finish to equalize, and Celta enjoyed the better of the first half, with Szczesny pulling off a couple of vital saves.
Iglesias put Celta ahead in the 52nd minute after some poor defending allowed him space to run through on goal and he scored with a shot from a narrow angle.
That prompted Hansi Flick to bring on Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo into the game. However, the duo had only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes when Iglesias completed his hat-trick.
The striker latched onto a long ball from defense with the Barca back line in its rival's half, and he then kept his calm to slot the ball past Szczesny and make it 3-1.
Olmo quickly reduced the lead to 3-2 with an angled finish and just four minutes later, Raphinha was on hand to level with a downwards header.
That set up a tense finish to the game, with Oscar Mingueza heading just wide for Celta against his former club, before Yoel Lago caught Olmo in the Celta area well into injury time.
Play continued for a minute, before the VAR sent the referee to review the incident and once the penalty was given, Raphinha stayed cool to finish into the corner of the net to give Barca three vital points.
Earlier in the day, Valencia clung on for a 1-1 draw away to Rayo Vallecano, who took the lead on the stroke of halftime when under-pressure Valencia defender Cesar Tarrega deflected a cross into his own net off his shoulder.
Umar Sadiq scrambled home his fifth goal since joining on loan from Real Sociedad to make it 1-1 with 15 minutes left to play.
On Friday, Marash Kumbulla's 39th-minute goal gave Espanyol a 1-0 win at home to Getafe.
