FC Barcelona rose to the summit of La Liga following matchday seven, courtesy of a crucial input from 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who replaced his teammates to help facilitate the winning goal in a 2-1 home victory against Real Sociedad.
Coach Hansi Flick made a first start for fellow teenager Dro in attacking midfield, and Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres both started on the bench. Barcelona controlled possession for most of the match but trailed when Ander Barrenetxea teed up Alvaro Odriozola for an easy finish, Xinhua reported.
Jules Kounde equalized on the stroke of halftime with a thumping header from Marcus Rashford's corner. The game was still finely balanced until Yamal came on in the 58th minute. Within seconds, he swung over a perfect cross for Robert Lewandowski to head home the winner.
Real Sociedad's Takefusa Kubo hit the post late on, and Lewandowski did the same for Barcelona. Yamal saw a goal ruled out for offside as well.
Atletico Madrid Halt Real's Perfect Record
Earlier this season, Atletico Madrid's 5-2 win over Real Madrid in the Madrid derby derailed the Los Blancos' perfect start and revived Atletico's title aspirations. A rollercoaster first half had Robin Le Normand giving Atletico the lead, only for Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler to edge Real in front. Alexander Sorloth equalized before halftime.
The second period was Atletico's. Arda Guler's high foot on Nico Gonzalez given a penalty, scored by Julian Alvarez. Alvarez then had a stunning free kick to make it 4-2, before Antoine Griezmann scored Atletico's fifth in injury time.
Villarreal 1-0 Athletic Bilbao: Alberto Moleiro's goal was the difference in a tightly fought match, Villarreal dominating after halftime due to changes in tactic from Marcelino Garcia.
Rayo Vallecano 0-1 Sevilla: Akor Adams' 87th-minute strike gave a "smash-and-grab" victory, with Odysseas Vlachodimos, the Sevilla goalkeeper, making several key saves.
Elche 2-1 Celta Vigo: Eder Sarabia's side maintained their unbeaten beginning thanks to Andre Silva's third goal of the campaign, Borja Iglesias levelling for Celta, and John Donald scoring the winner after Rafa Mir had a penalty saved.
Real Betis 2-0 Osasuna: Abde Ezzalzouli and Cucho Hernandez were on target in the first half to seal victory at home.
Mallorca 1-0 Alaves: Takuma Asano's goal earned Mallorca their opening win of the season.
Getafe 1-1 Levante: Ivan Romero gave Levante the lead, but Juan Iglesias leveled in the second half.
Girona 0-0 Espanyol: A 0-0 stalemate left Girona continuing to hunt for their first win and rooted to the foot of the table.
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