Barcelona, Aug 28 (V7N)- Barcelona made it two wins from two in La Liga as goals from Rafinha and Fermin Lopez secured a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.
The Catalan giants hosted Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on Thursday night (August 27).
Barcelona took control of the match early on and came close to opening the scoring several times. In the 18th minute, Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simon produced an excellent one-handed save to deny Lamine Yamal's curling effort.
Rafinha then saw his header hit the post in the 24th minute, while Pedri had a goal ruled out for offside five minutes later.
Barcelona finally broke the deadlock in the 37th minute. Pedri delivered a brilliant through ball to Rafinha, who finished past Simon to score his third goal in two matches this season.
Barcelona continued to dominate after the break. In the 53rd minute, Yamal's powerful effort from outside the box struck the crossbar.
Athletic Bilbao came close to an equalizer in the 75th minute when Oihan Sancet's long-range effort hit the post.
Barcelona eventually sealed the victory in the 82nd minute. Athletic defender Aymeric Laporte made a mistake while attempting to clear Karim Adeyemi's low cross, allowing Fermin Lopez to take possession and beat Simon.
Barcelona's new signing Rodri made his debut after coming on as a substitute in the 62nd minute. The Spanish midfielder joined the Catalan club from Manchester City.
With the victory, Barcelona moved to six points from two matches and remained level with Real Madrid, Real Betis and Sevilla at the top of the La Liga table.
Athletic Bilbao, meanwhile, are still without a point from their opening two matches.
END/SMA/AJ
