Bigas rises to connect with the resulting corner from Fernandez, but he can only loop his header over the bar.
90'
There will be three minutes of added time.
87'
R. Lewandowski gets yellow.
Lewandowski catches Bigas in an aerial battle with his arm and is booked.
84'
Aleix Garrido enters the game and replaces Ansu Fati.
Fati makes way after a good performance, scoring the important second for Barca. Garrido replaces the forward.
83'
Lewandowski has the ball in the net again, but this one is disallowed for a shove on Bigas that allowed him to tap home into an empty net. The referee was spot on there.
81'
Clerc takes aim from 25 yards on his left foot, only to drag his attempt harmlessly wide of the target.
78'
Torre replaces Araujo for Barca for the final 12 minutes. Kounde will move into the middle of the defence and Sergi Roberto will drop into right-back.
77'
Pablo Torre enters the game and replaces R. Araujo.
76'
E. Ponce enters the game and replaces Pere Milla.
Milla makes way for Ponce in the final third for the home side.
74'
R. Araujo gets yellow.
Araujo catches Fidel with a stray arm and goes into the book.
Minute
Description
70'
Ferran Torres has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by R. Lewandowski.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! TORRES MAKES IT FOUR!!! Barcelona are putting Elche to the sword as Torres gets in on the act with a precise effort from the edge of the box. Lewandowski turns provider as he floats a cross-field pass to his team-mate. Torres cuts inside on his left foot and curls his strike into the bottom-left corner giving Badia no chance.
Lewandowski adds an assist to his two goals. He arcs a pass to Torres before the Spaniard does the rest with a fine strike.
68'
F. Kessié enters the game and replaces Gavi.
Xavi takes the chance to withdraw Gavi after a fine outing. Kessie replaces the midfielder.
66'
R. Lewandowski has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Gavi.
Gavi highlights his battling qualities and then his finesse. He wins the ball from Fernandez before releasing Lewandowski to allow the Pole to score his second of the game.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! LEWANDOWSKI NOTCHES HIS SECOND!!!! 3-0 BARCA!!! The visitors are clinical as Gavi wins the ball before Lewandowski pounces from close range to surely wrap up the three points. Gavi puts the pressure on the substitute Fernandez and pokes the ball through to Lewandowski in the Elche box. He fires low and hard past Badia to put the game beyond doubt. A composed finish from the Pole.
65'
Josan enters the game and replaces Tete Morente.
N. Fernández Mercau enters the game and replaces L. Blanco.
Morente is withdrawn from the final third for Josan.
Fernandez replaces Blanco for the home side.
63'
OVER! Alba collects and drives into space before launching a strike at goal that sails over the bar. Elche seem to have lost hope here.
60'
Gavi gets yellow.
Gavi catches Gumbau with an arm in an aerial challenge and goes into the book.
56'
Ansu Fati has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Ferran Torres.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! FATI DOUBLES BARCA'S LEAD!!!!!! 2-0!!!!!! Barcelona extend their lead and take a huge stride towards the win through a fine strike from Fati. A simple pass from Torres plays Fati into space and he charges at the Elche backline. The forward reaches the edge of the box before he pulls the trigger on a right-footed effort that beats Badia and finds the bottom-left corner.
Torres offloads to Fati with a simple pass before the forward races away and scores with a precise strike.
54'
Raúl Guti enters the game and replaces José Ángel Carmona.
Raul Guti replaces Carmona, who has to be helped off the pitch.
53'
Carmona remains down and appears to be hurt after his fall. He may have to make way here.
52'
Carmona is played through on goal by Morente, but he stumbles as he collects the ball and falls to miss the chance to fire at goal. What an opportunity spurned by the midfielder.
50'
Lewandowski bursts into the Elche box and has Fati waiting in the middle, but his cutback is diverted behind by a desperate block from Mascarell.
48'
Gumbau rifles a strike at goal from 25 yards that Ter Stegen has to get behind to stop. However, the whistle blows as he strikes for a foul by Milla on Alonso, so it would not have counted anyway.
46'
We're back under way at Martinez Valero.
45' +1
HALF-TIME: ELCHE 0-1 BARCELONA
45'
There will be one minute of added time.
42'
Gavi produces a delightful turn and flick towards Alba, but the full-back sees his low cross into the middle cleared by Mascarell.
40'
Lewandowski gets lucky from a deflection off Gumbau as his offload hits the midfielder and bounces towards the Elche box. Badia is alert and clears with a boot downfield ahead of the Pole.
38'
Elche are asking questions of the Barca defence, but the visitors have all the answers so far with a stoic performance.
36'
Fidel tests the handling ability of Ter Stegen as he curls a strike towards goal from the edge of the box, but the Barca keeper makes a comfortable stop.
Clerc angles a cross into the box from a free-kick on the left flank. Alonso does well in his battle with Bigas to divert the ball behind for a corner.
34'
Elche win a corner down the right flank that is cleared as far as Clerc. He steers the ball back into the middle, but Araujo gets there first to clear for the visitors before Morente is penalised for handball.
31'
Araujo makes a vital clearance at the near post to prevent Fidel's cross from reaching Milla in the middle. Elche still have a corner.
30'
Carmona angles a cross into the Barca box from the resulting free-kick that Alonso reads and clears into touch.
29'
Bigas and Lewandowski collide not for the first time in the game, and the Elche defender gets the decision from the referee.
27'
Alba collects on the left flank and delivers a low cross towards the near post that Palacios forces away from Fati.
25'
Barcelona are moving the ball with speed in the final third. The home side have to be careful not to concede a second in the first half.
22'
Lewandowski pounces on a loose ball in the Elche half and looks for the run of Gavi, but his pass is cut out by Bigas before the Spaniard can take possession.
20'
R. Lewandowski has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by R. Araujo.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! LEWANDOWSKI BUNDLES A STRIKE PAST BADIA!!!!!!! 1-0 BARCA!!!!! The Catalan club take the lead as Lewandowski steers a close-range effort into the bottom-left corner. Araujo nods Alba's free-kick into his path and he guides his right-footed strike past Palacios and away from Badia to find the net.
Araujo rises to head a free-kick from Alba to Lewandowski before the Pole applies the finish.
19'
Clerc gets back to make an important intervention to prevent Lewandowski latching onto Gavi's throughball in the Elche box.
17'
Kounde hangs a cross into the box for Lewandowski to attack, but he collides with Badia and gives away a free-kick.
15'
Fati tries to bundle his way through the Elche defence in the final third, but Mascarell does enough to halt his progress and win possession.
13'
Gavi works an offload to Fati on the edge of the box, but he sees his blast charged down by Bigas.
11'
Fidel makes a probing run down the left flank and tries to send an early cross into the Barca box that Alonso clears into touch.
8'
Kounde sends a long ball over the top for Fati to chase, but Badia is quick off his line and gathers ahead of the forward.
7'
Barcelona have their foot on the ball and are starting to control proceedings, working passes across the pitch to stretch the Elche lines.
5'
Araujo releases Alba down the left flank, but the full-back moves a fraction early and is caught offside.
3'
Bigas rises at the back post to attack a cross from Fidel on the left flank, but his header deflects into Ter Stegen's grasp.
1'
We're under way at the Martinez Valero.
Morente collects on the right flank and sends an early effort at goal that deflects wide off the body of Alba.
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the LaLiga clash between Elche and Barcelona at the Estadio Martinez Valero.
Elche are rock-bottom of LaLiga and are 14 points adrift of safety with 12 games remaining in the campaign. Sebastian Beccacece takes charge of his first game tonight after replacing Pablo Machin in the dugout, who was sacked after a 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad, becoming Elche's fourth manager of the season. The task could not be more daunting for Beccacece against the league leaders. Elche are in dire need of a positive result and will have to be flawless to get it against Barca.
Barcelona can take a huge stride towards the LaLiga crown by extending their lead over second-place Real Madrid to 15 points with a win tonight. Xavi's men secured a last-gasp win over Madrid in El Clasico before the international break to further cement their standing at the top of the table. The Catalan club know they are slowly edging towards the title, but need to keep on grinding out wins to get over the line.
ELCHE (3-4-3): Edgar Badia; Helibelton Palacios, Pedro Bigas, Lautaro Blanco; Jose Carmona, Omar Mascarell, Gerard Gumbau, Carlos Clerc; Tete Morente, Fidel, Pere Milla.
ELCHE SUBS: Axel Werner, Diego Gonzalez, Gonzalo Verdu, Lisandro Magallan, Raul Guti, Alex Collado, Josan, Ezequiel Ponce, Nicolas Fernandez, Pol Lirola, John Donald.
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba; Sergi Roberto, Gavi, Eric Garcia; Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati.
BARCELONA SUBS: Sergio Busquets, Inaki Pena, Franck Kessie, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado, Pablo Torre, Arnau Tenas, Angel Galiot, Estanis Pedrola, Aleix Garrido.
Sebastian Beccacece will be satisfied with his side's performance. They've had decent spells of possession in the final third, but have lacked the cutting edge needed to threaten the Barca goal. The home side have been fairly resolute at the back and were unlucky to concede as Lewandowski's effort was scuffed, but found the net. Elche need to keep going and have belief they can conjure a goal from somewhere.
Barcelona are next in action against Real Madrid in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash at Camp Nou. Elche are on the road in their next outing against Osasuna next Saturday.
Thanks for joining our commentary today. Until next time, goodbye.
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