Madrid, Sep 17 (IANS) FC Barcelona remained top of La Liga with six wins from six after thrashing Racing Santander 7-2 at Camp Nou.
The newly promoted visitor made eight changes from the side that beat Alaves last weekend, but Barcelona raced into a 2-0 lead through an excellent Joao Cancelo strike and a Raphinha penalty.
Maguette Gueye pulled one back for Racing after an assist from Asier Villalibre, only for Cancelo to add his second from distance in the 36th minute after a deflection off Villalibre. Raphinha then made it 4-1, with Racing goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala saving a Lamine Yamal penalty before the break, reports Xinhua.
With Wojciech Szczesny in goal for Barcelona at the start of the second half, Yassir Zabiri reduced the deficit with his sixth goal of the season in the 65th minute, but Barcelona responded immediately as Raphinha completed his hat trick from the spot two minutes later.
Gabriel Jesus curled in a stunning finish to make it 6-2, and Yamal added a seventh in the 89th minute as Barcelona took its tally to 28 goals from its opening six matches.
Atletico Madrid warmed up for Sunday’s derby against Real Madrid by beating Osasuna 4-0 at the Metropolitano. Jonathan David opened the scoring in the 24th minute with his second goal in as many games, before Lee Kang-in struck the second in the 54th with an angled drive. Robin Le Normand made it 3-0 from a corner, and Alex Baena rounded off the scoring after a pass from Johnny Cardoso.
Sevilla continued its fine start with a 1-0 win away to Deportivo La Coruna as Miguel Sierra capitalized on a goalkeeping error to score in the 52nd minute. Deportivo was reduced to 10 men on the hour when left-back Angelino was sent off for a bad challenge.
Wednesday’s scheduled match between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was postponed before kickoff after a thunderstorm at Levante’s Ciudad de Valencia Stadium.
Betis faces Getafe and Malaga hosts Villarreal in Thursday’s fixtures.
–IANS
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