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La Liga 2022/23 | Lewandowski scores twice as Barcelona beats Elche 3-0
The Hindu
They were Lewandowski's seventh and eighth goals in a five-round scoring streak and took his overall tally to 11 in eight games
Robert Lewandowski shook off his disappointing return to Bayern Munich by scoring twice to lead Barcelona to a 4-0 victory at home over 10-man Elche in the Spanish league on Saturday.
They were Lewandowski's seventh and eighth goals in a five-round scoring streak and took his overall tally to 11 in eight games since he transferred to Barcelona from Bayern this summer.
Barcelona moved to the top of the league standings at one point above Real Madrid before the defending champion plays a derby at Atlético Madrid on Sunday.
The easy win came after Xavi Hernández's side suffered its only loss of the season at Bayern by 2-0 in the Champions League this week. Lewandowski missed some clear chances against the team he helped lead for eight seasons before coming to Camp Nou.
Elche was left with a hole in its backline in the 15th minute when defender Gonzalo Verdu pulled Lewandowski down when the striker was in position to latch onto a pass that would have left him all alone in the area. The referee didn't hesitate in sending off Verdu with a direct red since he was the last defender.
Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 33rd when he tapped in a cross from 18-year-old left back Alejandro Balde, who has won the starting job from Jordi Alba.
Memphis Depay doubled the lead in the 41st when he received a pass from Balde, spun around his marker and fired over goalkeeper Édgar Badía.
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Daniel Quizon is the latest to join the band of leaders. The Philippines player beat Russian Artion Stribuk on the third board in the ninth round at the Gift City Club on Tuesday. The four overnight leaders – Kazybek Nogerbek of Kazakhstan, Russia’s Rudik Makarian, Mamikon Gharibyan of Armenia, and Colombia’s Jose Gabriel Cardoso – were featured in the drawn games on the top two boards.
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On the seam-friendly pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, Axar Patel’s left-arm spin plays second fiddle to the pacers. Axar, however, has added great value as a batter. The southpaw, promoted to No. 4 in the Pakistan outing on Sunday, held the Indian innings together with an 18-ball 20.