AfriPulse
March 15, (THEWILL) — Barcelona returned to a four-point lead at the top of LaLiga on Sunday after defeating Sevilla 5-2 at Camp Nou, with Raphinha’s hat-trick the centrepiece of a dominant home performance.
Hansi Flick’s side had seen Real Madrid close within a point by beating Elche 4-1 on Saturday, but they responded emphatically.
Raphinha converted two first-half penalties, the first after Djibril Sow fouled Joao Cancelo in the ninth minute, and the second after Jose Angel Carmona was penalised for handball, before Dani Olmo added a third when a deflected Marc Bernal pass fell perfectly into his path for a thumping finish before the break.
Sevilla gave themselves brief hope when Oso turned in a Juanlu Sanchez cross to pull one back before half-time, but Raphinha extinguished any prospect of a comeback six minutes into the second half.
Linking up with substitute Fermin Lopez, the Brazilian saw his effort deflect off Nemanja Gudelj and beyond a stranded Odysseas Vlachodimos to complete his treble.
Cancelo rounded off a fine personal display by combining with Raphinha before finishing smartly for his first goal since returning to the club, while Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski both spurned further opportunities late on.
Sow nodded a late consolation past Joan Garcia from an Oso cross to give the scoreline a more respectable look for the visitors, but the result was never in genuine doubt. With 10 league fixtures remaining, Barcelona remain top favourites in the title race.
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Jude Obafemi, THEWILL
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
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