Real Betis 2-5 Barcelona: Yamal takes centre stage in heated LaLiga clash

Barcelona thrashed 10-man Real Betis 5-2 in a fiery LaLiga clash at Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla.

Lamine Yamal was at the heart of things, scoring a wonderful opener and assisting Gabriel Jesus later on, while the teenager was also headbutted by Facundo Bernal, which resulted in the Betis player being sent off.

The action started in the 10th minute as Yamal cut inside with brilliant skill before curling into the top-left corner, but Betis were level before the half-hour mark as Valentin Gomez headed in from Pablo Fornals' cross.

Hector Bellerin squandered a great chance, shooting straight at Joan Garcia from Fornals' cut-back, and he immediately rued that miss as Rodri headed in from Fermin Lopez's corner in the 41st minute.

Betis thought they equalised before the break when Giovani Lo Celso scored a sensational volley from distance, only for it to be disallowed for a handball against Cucho Hernandez in the build-up, and Barca piled on the misery as Yamal squared for Gabriel Jesus to make it 3-1 six minutes after the restart.

Abde Ezzalzouli halved Barca's lead two minutes later, but his goal was overshadowed by a flashpoint as Yamal and Bernal came together seconds after the goal was scored, with the latter twice headbutting the Barcelona winger.

Betis struggled with their numerical disadvantage, and Hansi Flick's side restored their two-goal lead when Eric Garcia tapped in after a brave header back across the box from Pau Cubarsi, who also teed up Dani Olmo for a stunning finish in the 81st minute to round off the win.

Yamal thrives in the heat of the battle

Yamal rattled the Betis fans early on with his goal, and the winger was booed with every touch he took, even more so after Bernal's sending-off, but the 19-year-old proved why he is a Ballon d'Or contender.

He completed six of his eight dribbles, as many as the whole Betis team combined, while also leading his side in shots (four) to go along with his goal and assist.

Yamal is the first player from Europe's top-five leagues to reach 10 assists this season across all competitions, and also the player who has been involved in the most goals this season across all competitions (nine goals and 10 assists).

He has scored eight goals in LaLiga this term, the highest tally by a Spanish player after the first nine matches of his club in a season of the competition since Diego Costa in 2013-14 (eight).

But Flick has reason to be delighted with his whole team, who accumulated 3.04 expected goals (xG) to Betis' 0.98.

Barca are the second team to win their first nine matches of a season in the entire history of LaLiga, after Real Madrid in 1968-69.

Additionally, they have scored 39 goals, the second-highest goal-scoring record for a team after their first nine matches of a competition season, after Sevilla in 1940-41 (42).