Yamal shines as Barca seal derby win to extend La Liga lead

Barcelona have extended their lead in the Spanish La Liga after thrashing Espanyol 4-1 at the Camp Nou on Saturday night.

With the win, the leaders moved nine points clear of rivals Real Madrid, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Girona on Friday.

Ferran Torres rose highest to head home Lamine Yamal’s corner at the back post after nine minutes to open the scoring.

The former Manchester City star got his second goal in the 25th minute as he latched on to a pass with the outside of the boot from Yamal.

Pol Lozano drew one back for the visitors early in the second half, but Yamal and Marcus Rashford both scored to take the game farther from Espanyol’s reach.

At the age of 18 years and 272 days, Lamine Yamal became the club’s youngest player to reach 100 appearances and showed his importance once more with the two assists.

Espanyol have now failed to win in 14 consecutive La Liga matches (five draws and nine losses) but remarkably remain 10th in the table.

Barca will play next on Tuesday at the second leg of their Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid, where they will need to come from two goals down if they are to progress.