Madrid (AFP) – Not even three penalty kicks were enough to stop Barcelona’s impressive run.
Barcelona tied for a 3-2 victory over Levante in the Spanish League, as substitute Luc de Jong scored in stoppage time after the Catalan club received three penalties in the second half.
The victory extended Barcelona’s unbeaten run to 15 games in all competitions and returned the team to second place in the league after jumping against Seville on Saturday.
Barcelona is 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid with a game in hand. Real Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 on Saturday.
“It will be difficult to compete for the title because Real Madrid does not make many mistakes,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said. “We both have tough games ahead, but if Madrid ends up losing some points, maybe we can hope for something bigger.”
The Barcelona Rally started after Xavi Pedri Gonzalez put the match up early in the second half with the team trailing by a goal. The 19-year-old playmaker was rested before the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday. Barcelona and Eintracht tied 1-1 in the first leg in Germany last week.
Jose Luis Morales put Levante ahead by converting a penalty kick in the 52nd minute after a foul by Dani Alves. The second penalty kick for the hosts came four minutes after a handball by Barcelona defender Eric Garcia, while Roger Marti missed the penalty kick.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalized for Barcelona with a header from Ousmane Dembele’s cross in the 59th minute, and Pedri scored the main goal from inside the area in the 63rd minute.
Levante equalized the match after another penalty kick in the 83rd minute after a mistake by Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet, as Gonzalo Melero converted his penalty kick before De Jong scored the late winning goal after a good cross from Jordi Alba.
Barcelona, who have not conceded a penalty kick in the league this season, have not lost since facing Athletic Bilbao in the last 16 of the King’s Cup in January.
Levante remained tied on points with last-placed Alaves. It’s seven points of safety.
SOCIEDAD IN CONTENT
Real Sociedad continued their quest for a place in the Champions League with a 2-1 victory over Elche.
Alexander Sorloth and Robin Le Normand scored under 10 minutes in the first half to help Sociedad take three points from fourth-placed Atletico Madrid seven rounds ago.
This is the third win in the last four games for Sociedad, who are in sixth place, two points behind Real Betis in fifth place.
Elche, who opened the scoring with Guido Carrillo in the third minute, remained 15th, four points above the relegation zone. He lost three times in a row.
Sorloth scored at 31st and Le Normand at 39, both after assists from veteran David Silva.
Sociedad striker Alexander Isak scored from a penalty kick, but it was rejected because he faked his shot to deceive the goalkeeper before sending the ball into the net.
Other results
China striker Wu Lei scored in the 89th minute, scoring his first goal of the season when Espanyol beat Celta Vigo 1-0 at home in a match between two teams near the middle of the table.
Earlier, 10th-placed Osasuna scored in stoppage time with a goal from Ante Bodemir to defeat Alaves 1-0. This was the fourth consecutive loss for Alaves with coach Julio Velasquez making his debut.