Gundogan scores in 10-man Barca ruthless win over Alaves

Gundogan scores in 10-man Barca ruthless win over Alaves to keep the Catalonians in a good shape.

Ikay Gundogan was instrumental as Barcelona grabbed a hard-earned 3-1 victory over Deportivo Alaves to go up to third on the La Liga table.

Coming from a 1-0 win over Osasuna mid-week, Xavi Hernandez’s men struggled in the opening stage of the match, as neither team made any tangible contributions.

However, the Blaugrana worked their way into gaining control of the game and buried their chance in the 22nd minute when Robert Lewandowski made the most of Gundogan’s pass to send a sublime effort past Antonio Sivera.

Thereafter, Luis García’s men made a case for an equalizer before the break, but all their efforts went wide, seeing the game enter the break in Barça’s favour.

Gundogan scores as Barça tighten their grip in the 2nd half, despite losing a man

It took the Catalan giants less than five minutes into the second half to double their lead, this time through Gundogan who converted smartly from Pedri’s delivery.

The host then reduced the deficit in the 52nd minute when Omorodion headed home from inside the box after excellent work from Alex Sola.

It appeared as though Alaves might do enough to equalize, but substitute Vitor Roque, had other plans, as he swept in a low finish into the far corner for his second goal in two consecutive games, after scoring the only goal in Barça’s win over Osasuna on Wednesday.

Roque, however, had a sour ending to his outing, as he picked up two yellow cards within five minutes to reduce the league’s defending champions to ten men.

Despite the advantage, Deportivo Alaves couldn’t break down Barcelona’s defence, as the visitors held tight to see out the win and end the host’s three-match winning run.