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regular-article-logo Friday, 19 April 2024

Pique sent off in final career match as Barcelona beats Osasuna

Robert Lewandowski’s second career red card came in the first half of Tuesday’s victory

AP/PTI Barcelona Published 10.11.22, 05:00 AM
FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski (right) with wife Anna after receiving his second Golden Shoe in Barcelona on Wednesday.

FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski (right) with wife Anna after receiving his second Golden Shoe in Barcelona on Wednesday. Twitter

With an improbable win, Barcelona made sure they will go into the World Cup break at the top of the Spanish league standings.

Robert Lewandowski was shown his first red card in nearly a decade and Gerard Pique was sent off from the bench in his last career match, but Raphinha scored late as Barcelona rallied to defeat Osasuna 2-1 and secure the Spanish league lead ahead of the World Cup stoppage.

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Lewandowski’s second career red card came in the first half of Tuesday’s victory, which left the Catalan club five points ahead of Real Madrid. Madrid, who have a game in hand, endured their first league loss of the season, 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano on Monday. The defending champions will host relegation-threatened Cadiz on Thursday.

Pique was sent off for complaining to the referee following the half-time whistle. The veteran Spain defender had made Xavi Hernandez’s squad even though he bid farewell at the Camp Nou at the weekend after announcing his retirement from soccer.

Lewandowski, who hadn’t been sent off since 2013 while still playing for Borussia Dortmund, was shown his second yellow card in the 31st minute after going hard into the body of Osasuna defender David Garcia away from the ball.

Garcia had opened the scoring for the hosts with a header in the sixth minute. Pedri Gonzalez equalised in the 48th with a strike from inside the area after the Osasuna defense failed to fully clear a cross by Jordi Alba, and substitute Raphinha netted the winner in the 85th with a header after a long cross by Frenkie de Jong. The Brazilian forward had entered the game seven minutes earlier.

“It was a difficult match and it got even harder after Robert was sent off,” Pedri said. “We knew we would have an opportunity, and got the goal when we had the chance.”

Barcelona seemed beaten but Raphinha scored after breaking free from the defenders to get to De Jong’s long ball, with his header from the edge of the area going over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Osasuna were trying to earn their third straight win, and fourth in their last five matches, with their only setback in that stint a draw at Girona. A victory would have left the Pamplona team in third place in the standings. Instead it dropped to sixth.

“It’s a shame, we are upset,” Garcia said. “We didn’t play well in the second half and paid a high price for it. We should have gone for the second goal to try to close out the match.”

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