BARCELONA, Spain — Robert Lewandowski shook off his disappointing return to Bayern Munich by scoring twice to lead Barcelona to a 4-0 victory at home over 10-man Elche in the Spanish La Liga.
They were Lewandowski´s seventh and eighth goals in a five-round scoring streak and took his overall tally to 11 in eight games since he transferred to Barcelona from Bayern this summer.
The easy win came after Xavi Hernandez´s side suffered its only loss of the season at Bayern by 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League this week.
Lewandowski missed some clear chances against the team he helped lead for eight seasons before coming to Camp Nou.
Elche was left with a hole in its backline in the 15th minute when defender Gonzalo Verdu pulled Lewandowski down when the striker was in position to latch onto a pass that would have left him all alone in the area.
The referee didn´t hesitate in sending off Verdu with a direct red since he was the last defender.
Verdu, who was making his season debut after recovering from injury, recognised that his sending off hurt his team´s already tough task of facing Barcelona at their stadium.
“I hadn´t played in a long time due to injury, and to come here and start … I was very excited, but in the 15th everything went wrong. I stumbled with the striker, the ball was free in a space where he could reach it,” Verdu said according to AP.
“I assume the responsibility for the result and for my team having to make a tremendous effort.”
Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 33rd when he tapped in a cross from 18-year-old left back Alejandro Balde.
Memphis Depay doubled the lead in the 41st when he received a pass from Balde, spun around his marker and fired home.
Lewandowski made it a double three minutes after halftime when he finished off a dangerous cross by Ousmane Dembélé.
Balde, who has assisted on three goals this season, has clearly won the starting job over veteran Jordi Alba, who appears to be third in the pecking order at left back, also behind new arrival Marcos Alonso. Balde has started five straight league games, while Alonso played well at Bayern.
“I am constantly surprised by what an 18-year-old can do at this level,” Xavi said. “He is in great shape and gives us a lot.”
Elche, which was left in last place and as the only team yet to win in the league, also lost coach Francisco Rodriguez just before halftime when he was issued a red card apparently for inappropriate language.
Valencia rolled to 3-0 over 10-man Celta Vigo in the subdued debut of Edinson Cavani.
The veteran Uruguay striker, who joined Valencia from the transfer market last month, trained for the past three weeks to get into playing shape. The 35-year-old Cavani wants to play for Uruguay in the World Cup in November.
Samuel Castillejos put Valencia ahead near the end of the first-half. Marcos André and Andre Almeida added goals after Celta lost Franco Cervi to a direct red card for a dangerous tackle of Thierry Correia.
“I was excited to finally live this moment, to run on the field, to feel the atmosphere,” said Cavani, who was substituted in the 72nd. “This is the first step.”
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