Barcelona regained top spot in La Liga on Sunday as they thrashed Real Sociedad 4-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Real Madrid’s defeat at Real Betis allowed Barca to move three points clear of their title rivals. And overtook Atletico Madrid who had been top after their win against Athletic Club on Saturday.
Aritz Elustondo was sent off in the 17th minute and Barcelona’s job was done.
Gerard Martin and Marc Casado had already given them a two-goal cushion by half-time.
After the break Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski exchanged passes for more goals.
Barca continued to pick up points in the tight title race.
Real Sociedad started well when Sergio Gomez hit a deflected shot past Wojciech Szczesny in the third minute.
But Barcelona’s relief was immense when Javi Lopez was offside in the build-up.
Unfortunately for Real Sociedad that was as good as it got.
Moments after Alex Remiro almost gifted Barcelona a chance, Elustondo was sent off for a last-man foul on Dani Olmo.
This happened as Olmo was clear through on goal.
Real Sociedad’s resistance, even with 10 men, lasted only 8 minutes before Barcelona scored their first.
Olmo, who was key in the win over Las Palmas last week, found left-back Martin inside the penalty area.
Martin then scored his first goal for the club.
Casado scored his first for Barcelona 4 minutes later when Olmo’s shot hit him and bounced past Remiro.
In the second half Real Sociedad tried to damage limitation but couldn’t prevent Barcelona from scoring their third 10 minutes after the break.
After Pedri’s shot hit the bar, they couldn’t stop Araujo from scoring from close range from a corner.
Boosted by his earlier effort Araujo then set up Lewandowski.
Lewandowski scored his 8th in 10 games as he deflected a teammate’s long range shot past Remiro.With the points in the bag Barcelona slowed down and looked to Wednesday’s Champions League match against Benfica.
Real Madrid had been lacklustre on Saturday and Barcelona knew exactly what was needed against a stubborn Real Sociedad.
Real Sociedad had only lost to Los Blancos in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Imanol Alguacil’s side are a tough nut to crack and can frustrate even the most talented teams.
They had shown this previously against Barcelona this season.
But the early red card made it all too easy for Barcelona.
What could have been a tough match turned into a stroll.