Barcelona closed the gap to La Liga leaders Real Madrid to five points with a 3-1 win over Elche, sealing their ninth straight victory against the Franjiverdes and extending an unbeaten head-to-head streak that now spans 22 games.
The hosts wasted little time asserting dominance, with Lamine Yamal smashing home the opener after just eight minutes following a poor giveaway from David Affengruber.
Four minutes later, Adrià Pedrosa’s slip allowed Fermín López to tee up Ferran Torres, who doubled Barcelona’s advantage to continue their run of scoring multiple goals in every meeting with Elche since 2016.
Elche briefly threatened a fightback when Rafa Mir curled a fine effort beyond Wojciech Szczęsny before half-time, but despite moments of promise, the visitors were second best throughout.
Barcelona came close to restoring their two-goal cushion through Torres and Marcus Rashford, while goalkeeper Iñaki Peña kept Elche alive with several superb saves.
Rashford, however, eventually got his goal midway through the second half, smashing in off the post to make it 3-1 and settle the contest.
Rafa Mir remained Elche’s lone bright spark, twice striking the woodwork in the second half, but his persistence went unrewarded as Barcelona comfortably saw out the match to claim their sixth home win in seven and keep the pressure on their arch-rivals in Madrid.
