La Liga, Barcelona secure 2-0 win over Elche: Records broken
Frenkie de Jong and Riqui Puig scored a goal each as Barcelona claimed a 2-0 victory over Elche in their latest La Liga fixture. The result sees Barca retain their third spot on the points table. Notably, Barca were without captain Lionel Messi, who has been serving a two-game ban for his red card in last week's Supercopa final. Here are the records broken.
Barca were dominant in the game right from the beginning. Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring for them just before half-time with an easy tap-in. Although Elche came close to scoring an equalizer in the second half, Marc-Andre ter Stegen denied Emiliano Rigoni a goal with an important save. Barca wrapped the game just before the stoppage time as de Jong set up Puig.
Barca have kept a clean sheet in each of their last nine La Liga games against Elche. During the period, they have won seven and drawn two against Elche, Barca's best run of consecutive games without conceding against a single opponent in the competition.
Riqui Puig made seven touches before scoring against Elche, the least required to score in a single game this season by a Barca player. Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong has been in sublime form, having scored three times and provided two assists in his last six matches across all competitions. Besides, Barcelona have now won their last five away games (La Liga).
Speaking on the win, de Jong said, "We have been playing a bit better since the year began, we've won all our games which shows we have improved." "This wasn't an easy game but we worked hard and are happy to have won it. Scoring goals and providing assists doesn't mean you are playing better necessarily but I'm very happy to have done so."
