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- Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona: Depay and Coutinho strike late to maintain Xavi's winning start
Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona: Depay and Coutinho strike late to maintain Xavi's winning start
Memphis Depay and Philippe Coutinho scored late on as Barcelona earned a 3-1 win at Villarreal on Saturday.
Xavi made it back-to-back LaLiga wins following his appointment as Barcelona head coach as late goals from Memphis Depay and Philippe Coutinho secured a 3-1 win over Villarreal.
The former Barca midfielder oversaw a 1-0 win over Espanyol last weekend after taking over the reins from Ronald Koeman, but it looked like he would be denied another three points at Estadio de la Ceramica when Samuel Chukwueze canceled out Frenkie de Jong's opener.
Depay had other ideas, though, stroking home with two minutes remaining to spark jubilant celebrations from Xavi on the Barca bench, before Coutinho added a third from the penalty spot in stoppage time.
The result puts seventh-placed Barca seven points behind leaders Real Madrid, who have a game in hand, while Villarreal stay 12th.