Author: TALES AZZONI
MADRID (AP) — Lamin Yamal scored early and Barcelona bounced back from El Clasico defeat to beat Elche 3-1 at home on Sunday to regain second place in the Spanish league.
Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford also scored for Barcelona a week after losing 2-1 to Real Madrid in the first classic of the season.
Barcelona trails La Liga leaders Madrid, who beat Valencia 4-0 at home on Saturday, by five points. Barcelona entered the game in third place, one point behind Villarreal, who beat Rayo Vallecano 4-0 on Saturday.
Yamal, criticized by some after a mediocre performance against Madrid, gave the hosts the lead with a strike from inside the penalty area in the ninth minute following an assist from Alejandro Balde. Torres increased the lead three minutes later with a pass from Fermin Lopez.
Elche responded with Rafa Mir's counter-attack goal in the 42nd, but Rashford extended Barcelona's lead with a left-footed strike in the 61st to score his sixth goal of the season for his new club.
Rashford failed to score in the 52nd minute due to an offside call in the previous game, and Mir almost equalized for the visitors in the 55th minute with a curling shot that clipped the crossbar. Mir also hit the post as his side went down 3-1 in the 68th after a fine save from Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Elche, in ninth place, are winless in four league matches in a row, including three defeats.
Barcelona, which had lost three of its previous five games in all competitions, will continue to play at Montjuic Stadium while it awaits proper approval to open the renovated Camp Nou.
The defeat to Madrid ended a streak of four straight victories over their opponents.
Dani Olmo and striker Robert Lewandowski returned from injury for Barcelona as second-half substitutes. They have not played for the club since early October.
Other results
Eighth-place Alaves scored in the first half to beat Espanyol 2-1 at home to end a two-game winless run. Lucas Boyer, who scored one of the goals, was sent off with a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time. Espanyol, in fifth place, have won three wins in a row in all competitions.
Celta won their fourth match in a row in all competitions, beating Levante, who played with ten men, 2-1 thanks to Miguel Romana's stoppage-time goal. Oscar Mingueza put the visitors ahead in the 40th minute and Kevin Arriaga equalized for Levante in the 66th minute.
Celta moved up to twelfth place.
Levante, beaten in three league games and recently knocked out of the Copa del Rey, were in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
