Sevilla take top spot; Fati and Suarez shine in Barca win over Valencia
Barcelona’s Ansu Fati (right) celebrates with Antoine Griezmann after scoring a goal against Valencia during their Spanish League match on Saturday. Associated Press
Karim Benzema netted twice for Real Madrid as they fought off a late comeback to beat Levante 3-2 as Eden Hazard made his La Liga debut.
Atletico Madrid took second spot after their first defeat of the season when they lost 2-0 at Real Sociedad at the Basque club’s newly refurbished stadium.
Meanwhile, a masterfully taken free kick by Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan earned a 1-0 victory at Alaves and lifted his team to the top of the standings in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Jordan struck a dipping free kick over the defensive wall that goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco could only watch land in his net in the 38th minute.
Jordan, who joined Sevilla from Eibar before the season, also scored in a 1-0 win at Granada in round two.
The match ended with a small scuffle that earned bookings for a pair of players on each team.
The win at Alaves pushed Sevilla into first place. Atletico is one point behind, followed by Real.
Defending champion Barcelona and Real Sociedad are three points off the pace.
Espanyol scored their first goals of the season and got their first win after fighting back for a 2-1 victory at Eibar.
Facundo Ferreyra and Esteban Granero scored in the final 15 minutes to pull off the comeback.
Goals from Fati, Frenkie de Jong, Gerard Pique and two from Luis Suarez gave Barca their second win of the season.
Kevin Gameiro and Maxi Gomez scored for Valencia, who suffered their biggest defeat in over three years in coach Albert Celades’ first game.
The victory took Barca on to seven points after four games, while Valencia have four.
Fati, who became Barca’s youngest ever goalscorer two weeks ago by netting at Osasuna, struck his first goal at the Camp Nou to give Barca the lead with less than two minutes on the clock by smashing a pass from De Jong into the net.
The goal had the injured Lionel Messi grinning in admiration as he watched on from the stands but the teenager had fans on their feet again five minutes later as he dashed into the area and teed up De Jong to score his first goal for the club.
Valencia were playing their first game since owner Peter Lim took the surprise decision to sack Marcelino, the coach who had secured Champions League football twice and also led the team to victory over Barca in last year’s Copa del Rey final.
They pulled a goal back later in the half through Kevin Gameiro but Barca came flying back at them after the interval.
Pique bundled the ball into the net in the 51st minute after Antoine Griezmann had hit the post while Luis Suarez netted twice after coming off the bench.
Making his return after getting injured on the first day of the season, Suarez flummoxed Valencia goalkeeper and former team mate Jasper Cillessen with two thumping finishes, one which went in off the near post, the other settling in the near corner.
Suarez was given a warm reception by Barca fans but it was nothing compared to the remarkable standing ovation they gave to Fati, who heard his name chanted by supporters when he came off to make way for the Uruguayan.
Maxi Gomez got a consolation goal in stoppage time for Valencia, who fell to their heaviest defeat since they were thumped 7-0 at the Camp Nou in 2016 when Gary Neville was in charge.
Agencies
