Marcus Rashford made an instant impact from the bench as Barcelona strengthened their grip on the LaLiga summit with a 3-1 victory over Elche at the Estadio Martínez Valero, moving four points clear at the top.
Barcelona struck early through teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who continued his red-hot form, but Elche responded midway through the first half when Álvaro Rodríguez calmly slotted home to end the visitors’ early dominance.
The setback failed to unsettle Barça, and Ferran Torres restored their lead before the break, ensuring Xavi’s side went into half-time with a narrow advantage.
Elche threatened to level again after the restart and came agonisingly close when Adam Boayar squandered a gilt-edged opportunity, blazing over after clever work from Martim Neto.
That miss proved decisive. Moments later, Rashford, introduced for Raphinha, sealed the points, finishing from close range in the 72nd minute after Yamal’s excellent control and incisive low cross.
The visitors had looked in control from the outset. Yamal opened the scoring in the sixth minute, racing onto Dani Olmo’s through ball, rounding goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and rolling into an empty net.
Torres and Olmo both went close as Barcelona pushed for a second, but Elche struck back when Rodríguez broke free of Eric García and beat Joan García with a composed finish.
Torres endured a chaotic spell in front of goal, hitting the crossbar twice in quick succession, but he finally found his reward in the 40th minute, rifling home after Frenkie de Jong’s driving run and cutback.
Elche remained dangerous after the interval, with Rodrigo Mendoza seeing a goal ruled out for offside, before Boayar’s costly miss shifted the momentum firmly back in Barcelona’s favour.
Rashford then put the result beyond doubt, firing into the roof of the net shortly after arriving on the pitch, as Barcelona capped a confident performance following their midweek Champions League qualification against Copenhagen.
The win gives Barcelona breathing space over Real Madrid, though their rivals have the chance to cut the gap back to one point when they face Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
