In the 97th minute, Robert Lewandowski converted a penalty to secure a 2-1 victory for Barcelona against Celta Vigo on Saturday.
The Poland international, who had earlier opened the scoring just before halftime, initially missed the penalty, but a retake was granted as Vicente Guaita was deemed to have left his line early. Lewandowski capitalized on the second chance, securing the crucial win for Barcelona.
Throughout the match, both teams had opportunities to clinch victory, but it was Barcelona who emerged triumphant when the final whistle blew, keeping their title aspirations alive by a narrow margin.
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Vitor Roque, operating on the left wing, displayed effective collaboration with Lamine Yamal early in the game, creating the first significant chance. The first half unfolded in an end-to-end fashion, with fans experiencing tension from start to finish.
Yamal’s brilliance came to the forefront as the young winger, having faced several denied chances, delivered a perfect assist to Lewandowski just before halftime, providing Xavi’s side with a reason to rejoice.
Celta Vigo, however, came out strongly in the second half, leveling the score just two minutes after the restart. Oscar Migueza, a former Barcelona player, set up Iago Aspas, whose shot took an unfortunate deflection off Jules Kounde, leaving Marc-Andre ter Stegen with no chance of maintaining a clean sheet.
The pace of the game remained intense, with both Barcelona and Celta Vigo pushing forward aggressively. A draw seemed imminent until Yamal was fouled in the penalty area deep into injury time.
Despite Guaita saving Lewandowski’s initial attempt, a VAR review confirmed the goalkeeper’s premature departure from the goal line, leading to a retake. On the second attempt, both striker and goalkeeper chose the same direction, but this time, Guaita couldn’t deny Lewandowski, who celebrated the crucial three points for Barcelona.