Barcelona thrash 10-man Real Betis 5-2 as Yamal stars in chaotic LaLiga clash

Barcelona stay perfect with nine straight wins

Barcelona remain perfect to start the season and have made it nine wins out of nine in LaLiga thanks to a wild 5-2 victory away to Real Betis at La Cartuja on Saturday evening. The contest featured seven goals, a disallowed strike, and a red card in a truly chaotic game in Seville.

Lamine Yamal in action for Barcelona against Real Betis

First-half drama and VAR controversy

Barça made an excellent start, dominating possession and taking the lead in the 10th minute through a world-class goal by Lamine Yamal, who cut inside with brilliant skill before curling into the top-left corner from outside the box.

Real Betis responded with Valentín Gómez equalising with a free header from Pablo Fornals' cross, and Héctor Bellerín nearly put the hosts in front on the counter but was denied by a fantastic save from Joan Garcia. Barça restored the lead in the 41st minute when Rodri headed in from a corner taken by Fermín López.

Betis thought they had equalised again when Giovani Lo Celso scored a sensational volley from distance, only for VAR to intervene and disallow the goal for a handball by Cucho Hernández in the build-up. The half ended 2-1 to Barcelona.

Second-half chaos, red card and late goals

The first ten minutes of the second half went into overdrive. Yamal squared for Gabriel Jesus to make it 3-1 six minutes after the restart after a great play in midfield from Fermín López and an assist from Yamal.

Abde Ezzalzouli halved the lead two minutes later, playing through on goal and passing past Joan Garcia, but the goal was overshadowed by a flashpoint as Yamal and Facundo Bernal came together seconds after the goal. Bernal was shown a straight red card for headbutting Yamal.

With Betis down to ten men, Hansi Flick's side restored their two-goal cushion when Eric Garcia tapped in after a brave header back across the box from Pau Cubarsí. Raphinha returned from injury for the final stretch, while Yamal was rested.

Dani Olmo sealed the victory in the 81st minute with a stunning finish from outside the box to make it 5-2. There was late bad news for Barcelona as Eric Garcia had to come off with an apparent muscle injury, and both teams finished with ten men.

Barcelona players celebrate during the LaLiga clash at La Cartuja

Yamal takes centre stage

Yamal was at the heart of everything for Barcelona. The 19-year-old scored the opener, assisted Gabriel Jesus, completed six of his eight dribbles and led his side in shots with four.

Barcelona accumulated 3.04 expected goals to Betis' 0.98 and are now the second team to win their first nine matches of a LaLiga season, after Real Madrid in 1968-69. The Blaugrana have scored 39 goals after nine games, the second-highest total in the competition's history for that stage of a season.