La Liga: Fermin Lopez helps Barcelona seal comeback draw against Mallorca

PALMA: Youngster Fermin Lopez rescued La Liga toppers Barcelona with a 75th-minute goal against Mallorca to draw the game at Iberostar Stadium on Tuesday.

Fermin Lopez came off the bench and netted his first senior goal for Barcelona in about 12 minutes to help his team avoid their first loss of the ongoing La Liga season.

Mallorca started the game on high and gained an early advantage in the 8th minute as Vedat Muriqi took advantage of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s mistake to play the ball out causing a scramble in the penalty area.

Barcelona’s Raphinha scored the equalizing goal in the 41st minute, but Mallorca managed to get the lead again only seven minutes later in stoppage time with a goal from Abdon Prats, assisted by Muriqi’s long ball.

The home side dominated and kept Barcelona’s attackers silent until Lopez helped his team equalize 15 minutes before the final whistle as both teams shared points.

Watch LA LIGA 2023/24 Live on ARY ZAP

In another La Liga fixture, Sevilla thumped Almeria 5-1 at their home Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Tuesday.

This was Sevilla’s second victory in the la Liga 2023/24, while, Almeria suffered their fifth loss in the season and are yet to win a game this season.

The home side raced to a two-goal advantage in eight minutes with back-to-back goals by Youssef En-Nesyri and Dodi Lukebakio.

Sevilla further extended their lead in the 38th minute as Suso scored off a left-footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner, thanks to a timely assist by Djibril Sow.

The first half ended at 3-0, however, the home side started the second half the same way as the first with Adrià Pedrosa’s cross reaching Erik Lamela, who netted the fourth goal for Almeria.

Almeria scored their only goal when Luis Suarez converted a penalty as Jesús Navas was shown a yellow card.

The match appeared to end at 4-1, but Kike Salas added another goal to the home side’s tally in the stoppage time.

The Sevilla will next face defending champions Barcelona on September 30.

READ: Fastest fifty and ton power Nepal to highest T20I total, victory margin