Laliga: Barcelona thrash Racing Santander 7-2 as Raphinha scores hat-trick

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as Barcelona produced another dominant attacking display, thrashing promoted Racing Santander 7-2 in La Liga on Wednesday.

The victory preserved Barcelona’s 100 per cent league record and moved Hansi Flick’s side three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal were also on target as Barcelona continued their remarkable scoring run, taking their tally to 33 goals in seven matches across all competitions.

With lightning flashing above Camp Nou, Barcelona began the game at a blistering pace and opened the scoring after just eight minutes.

Cancelo provided the breakthrough with a spectacular long-range strike that crashed in off the crossbar to give the hosts an early advantage.

Dani Olmo twice came close to adding another before Barcelona doubled their lead when Raphinha won and converted a penalty.

The Brazilian was brought down by Pedro Felipe and made no mistake from the spot, sending his effort into the bottom-right corner.

Racing Santander reduced the deficit when Maguette Gueye battled his way through the Barcelona defence before producing a composed finish past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

The visitors’ hopes of mounting a comeback were short-lived, however, as Barcelona restored their two-goal advantage.

Cancelo’s second long-range effort took a deflection off Asier Villalibre and found the net to make it 3-1.

Raphinha then struck again to put Barcelona firmly in control, racing onto a pass from Olmo before finishing calmly.

Yamal had an opportunity to add a fifth after Karim Adeyemi was brought down inside the box, but the teenage forward saw his penalty saved by Julen Agirrezabala.

Barcelona goalkeeper Garcia was replaced at half-time by Wojciech Szczesny after appearing to hurt himself while slipping as he went to retrieve the ball.

Yamal struck the post early in the second half and later had another effort ruled out for offside as his frustrating evening continued despite Barcelona’s dominance.

Racing Santander took advantage of a major error from Szczesny to score their second goal.

The Barcelona goalkeeper attempted to dribble out with the ball but was dispossessed by Yassir Zabiri, who finished into the empty net.

Barcelona quickly restored their three-goal cushion, earning another penalty after Adeyemi was brought down inside the area.

Raphinha stepped up again and completed his hat-trick from the spot, taking his league tally to nine goals and extending his lead at the top of the scoring charts.

He was subsequently replaced by fellow Brazilian Gabriel Jesus, who made an immediate impact.

Jesus added Barcelona’s sixth goal after being played through by Yamal before firing a precise finish into the top corner.

Yamal eventually got on the scoresheet for Barcelona’s seventh and final goal.

Adeyemi accelerated down the left flank before setting up the young winger, who finished the move to complete another emphatic Barcelona victory.

The result underlined Barcelona’s impressive attacking form under Flick, with the Catalan club continuing to combine a perfect league record with a prolific scoring rate.

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