By Paul Joseph
Marcus Rashford found the net once more as Barcelona pulled four points ahead at the top of the La Liga standings with a victory over Elche.
The defending champions took an early lead in the sixth minute when Dani Olmo set up Lamine Yamal, who rounded Elche goalkeeper Inaki Pena and slotted the ball into an empty net.
Elche, who last triumphed over Barcelona in December 1974, equalized through Alvaro Rodriguez, who capitalized on the visitors’ high defensive line and calmly placed the ball into the far corner in the 29th minute.
However, Hansi Flick’s team regained the lead 11 minutes later when Ferran Torres fired Frenkie De Jong’s cut-back into the top of the net.
Manchester United loanee Rashford came off the bench at halftime and scored the third goal with a simple tap-in after Yamal delivered a low pass across the goal.
This marked Rashford’s 10th goal of the season and his second in consecutive games, having scored against Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Barcelona dominated the match and created numerous scoring opportunities.
Dani Olmo hit the crossbar early on, and while the score was still 1-1, Torres struck the bar first with his foot and then again with his head on the rebound.
Just before halftime, Torres rounded the goalkeeper, but his shot was cleared off the line by Elche defender Victor Chust.
This victory marked Barcelona’s 15th win in 16 matches across all competitions.
It puts pressure on second-placed Real Madrid, who have played one game less and could reduce the Catalans’ lead at the top of the table to just one point when they face local rivals Rayo Vallecano at home on Sunday (13:00 GMT).
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