Last-gasp Lewandowski penalty gives Barcelona win at Celta

NAPOLI: Robert Lewandowski’s penalty deep into added time earned Barcelona a fortunate 2-1 win at Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Saturday ahead of their Champions League game at Napoli.

It was another uninspired performance by Barcelona until a moment of brilliance from Lewandowski gave the visitors the lead just before halftime. Winger Lamine Yamal found the Polish forward on the edge of the box and he made space with the outside of his boot to fire a bullet strike past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

Under pressure in 17th place, fourth bottom and three points above the relegation zone, Rafa Benitez’s side fought back to level in the 47th minute when Iago Aspas netted a deflected strike past keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The match grew in tension with the raucous Galician stadium roaring support for their team who had suffered five losses in their last six games in all competitions and managed only four wins in 26 league games this season.

Celta were pushing for victory with Aspas missing three clear chances before defender Fran Beltran made a bad mistake, missing the ball completely in a clearance attempt and hitting Yamal’s leg in the 93rd minute to give Lewandowskihis chance seven minutes into stoppage time.

Vicente Guaita saved his first effort, but the VAR check showed the keeper was in front of the goalline before the ball left the spot and Lewandowski tucked away his second effort. Xavi Hernandez’s side are third in the standings on 54 points, two behind Girona and seven adrift of leaders Real Madrid, both of whom have a game in hand.

“In the second half we didn’t play well. They were lucky in their goal, but we did little offensively. If you want to win a game 2-0 or 3-0, you can’t just play for 45 minutes,” Lewandowski told DAZN. “I am happy. We won a very important match for us. These are three important points. Now we can look at the Champions League.”