Villarreal on top, Ansu Fati inspires Barca win

MADRID, Aug. 22  — Villarreal went top of La Liga on Sunday night after a 2-0 win away to Atletico Madrid continued their 100 percent start to the season.
Unai Emery’s side outplayed Atletico, but it wasn’t until the 71st minute that Yeremy Pino opened the scoring with a good finish inside the penalty area.
Atletico was reduced to 10 men after new arrival Nahuel Molina was sent off in injury time for a bad challenge, and Spain international Gerard Moreno sealed the win in the 97th minute.
Robert Lewandowski celebrated his 34th birthday with a goal inside 50 seconds as FC Barcelona won 4-1 at Real Sociedad.
Although Alexander Isak equalized for Real Sociedad just five minutes later, the game turned in the second half after Barca made a double change, bringing Ansu Fati and Raphinha on for Ferran Torres and Alejandro Balde.
Ousmane Dembele finished off a collective move to put Barca ahead in the 66th minute and Lewandowski scored his second after another flowing move three minutes later. Both assists were given by Ansu Fati, who netted Barca’s fourth with 11 minutes left.
Real Madrid’s effectiveness on the break saw them keep their 100 percent record as they won away to Celta Vigo, who deserved better than a 4-1 defeat.
Penalties from Karim Benzema and Iago Aspas made it 1-1 before Luka Modric’s 42nd-minute curling shot put Madrid ahead just before the break, and Vinicius Jr made it 3-1 with Celta appealing for a penalty at the other end in the 56th minute.
Fede Valverde added a fourth for Real Madrid, and it would have been 5-1 if Eden Hazard hadn’t missed Madrid’s second penalty late in the game.
Borja Iglesias scored two penalties as Real Betis maintained their perfect start with a 2-1 win in Mallorca.
Osasuna also scored two penalties in their 2-0 win at home to Cadiz with Chimy Avila and Kike Garcia netting in each half against a rival that ended up with 10 men after Tomas Alarcon was sent off for a bad challenge.
This round of matches began on Friday night with Rayo Vallecano winning 2-0 away to Espanyol with goals from Isi Palazon and Pathe Ciss in a match which also saw Rayo’s Florien Lejeune and Espanyol’s Sergi Gomez both sent off in the first half.
A bad error from Valladolid keeper Sergio Asenjo gifted a flat Sevilla a point in a 1-1 draw in Seville after Anuar Tuhami had given the recently-promoted side a shock 80th-minute lead.
A touchline flare-up in the closing minutes saw Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna and Valladolid’s Jawad El Yamiq also sent off.  (Xinhua)