Barcelona's 5-2 win keeps them top as Betis are reduced to 10

Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-2 in La Liga, with Barcelona winning after leading 2-1 at half-time.

Seven goals and a decisive dismissal

Lamine Yamal opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 10th minute, assisted by Jules Koundé, to make it 0-1. Diego Valentín Gómez levelled for Real Betis in the 27th minute from Pablo Fornals’s assist, making it 1-1. Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante restored Barcelona’s lead in the 41st minute after Fermín López’s pass, making it 1-2.

Gabriel Jesus extended Barcelona’s advantage in the 51st minute, assisted by Yamal, for 1-3. Abde Ezzalzouli replied for Real Betis in the 53rd minute after Giovani Lo Celso’s assist, reducing the score to 2-3. Eric García made it 2-4 in the 62nd minute from Pau Cubarsí’s assist, before Daniel Olmo Carvajal completed the scoring in the 81st minute, also assisted by Cubarsí, for 2-5.

Facundo Bernal received a yellow card in the 53rd minute and a red card in the 54th, leaving Real Betis with 10 players.

Barcelona control the numbers

Barcelona had 69% possession, 18 shots to Real Betis’s 6 and 692 accurate passes compared with 256. Their expected-goals figure was 3.05 against 1.02, supporting the winning margin.

Table position and standout performer

The table after this match lists Barcelona first with 27 points from 9 games and Real Betis third with 19 points from 9 games; Barcelona are 8 points ahead. Before kick-off, Barcelona’s form was eight wins, while Real Betis had six wins, one draw and two losses in the listed sequence. Rodri was Barcelona’s highest-rated player at 8.2, with one goal and two key passes.