FC Barcelona 1-0 Mallorca: Wonder goal wins it

It was not a vintage performance from FC Barcelona this Friday against Mallorca, but the three points were secured thanks to a piece of sheer magic from a lad of just sixteen years of age.

Lamine Yamal capped an MVP display with an absolute peach of a goal with just over a quarter of hour remaining, and that was enough to nab three points that heap the pressure onto Real Madrid and Girona and also provide a welcome injection of morale ahead of the crunch Champions League tie with Napoli on Tuesday.

Penalty miss

Until the goal, there hadn’t been too much to get excited about other than a first half penalty that unfortunately wasn’t exploited.

Barça’s initially rejected appeal had subsequently been endorsed by a VAR review. Raphinha had indeed been clipped nastily and with Lewandowski on the bench, it was Ilkay Gündoğan who did the duties.

Sadly, however, visiting keeper Predrag Rajkovic read the German’s intentions well, and to make matters worse, Raphinha would eventually have to withdraw from the game.

Yamal beauty

There seemed to be an urgency missing from Barça’s football, but as the game progressed, so did the blaugrana pressure.

Lamine Yamal in particular burst into life. He’d already have scored a cracker had Rajkovic not managed to fingertip one brilliant effort onto the crossbar, but there was nothing the Serbian stopper could do when Barça’s teenage wonder struck again on 73 minutes.

Collecting the ball from Lewandowski, the Pole on the field by this stage, the 16-year-old wiggled and jiggled his way into the area and curled in the most exquisite of finishes.

When the goal was repeated on the Estadi Olimpic screens, the crowd got to truly appreciate what a work of art they had just witnessed. In unison, the whole stadium gushed with admiration. Utter brilliance.

Napoli next

The game was by no means over. Mallorca hadn’t done too much, but they had competed well, and with just a one goal cushion, Barça were anything but comfortable.

But solid defending made sure Ter Stegen, making his 400th appearance for the club this evening, was never fully tested and Barça are spending Friday night back up in second place.