With a defender moving in front of him and blocking his view inside the area, Robert Lewandowski stayed calm.
The veteran striker patiently waited for a gap, then quickly used his backheel to gently send the ball into the far corner for a beautiful goal.
Lewandowski continues to make scoring look easy after joining Barcelona from Bayern Munich. Barcelona’s top signing this season found the net twice on Sunday to lead the Catalan club to a 4-0 rout of Valladolid in the Spanish league.
Real Madrid relied on Karim Benzema, its trustworthy striker for years, to maintain a perfect start with its third straight away victory. Benzema scored in the 88th minute and deep into stoppage time to give the defending champion a 3-1 win at Espanyol.
It was the third league goal for Benzema, while Lewandowski took his tally to four. The Poland striker had also scored a double in the 4-1 victory at Real Sociedad last weekend. He was also twice denied by the woodwork at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
“He is extraordinary,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández said of Lewandowski. “He is a natural leader who has been helping us greatly.”
Pedri González and Sergi Roberto also scored for Barcelona, which had opened with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano at home.
The 34-year-old Lewandowski, signed from Bayern for nearly $50 million, got on the board in the 24th by completing a nice pass by Raphinha, another one of Barcelona new signings who has been playing well.
Pedri added to the lead in the 43rd from near the penalty spot after an assist by Ousmane Dembélé, who also set up Lewandowski’s superb backheel goal in the 64th. Roberto closed the scoring in stoppage time.
“We knew what kind of player we had signed,” newly signed Barcelona defender Jules Koundé said of Lewandowski. “He is a top striker and he shows it with his goals and with how he helps the team.”
Barcelona finally could count on Koundé, who had not been registered ahead of the first two rounds because the club wasn’t able to abide with the league’s fair play regulations. The former Sevilla defender started in the right back position and impressed in his debut.
Valladolid, owned by former Brazil and Barcelona great Ronaldo, is back in the first division after a one-year absence. It was coming off a home loss against Villarreal and a draw at Sevilla.
Read:PSG drops points after 1-1 draw with Monaco; Marseille wins
MADRID STAYS PERFECT
Madrid was a few minutes away from losing its perfect record when Benzema came through with two late goals against Espanyol.
Madrid was far from its best but Benzema helped to salvage the win with a nice close-range touch to complete a well-placed cross by Rodrygo. Benzema than easily converted a free kick after Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrera had to play in goal because goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte was sent off and all substitutions had been made.
Vinícius Júnior had put Madrid ahead in the 12th and Joselu equalized for the hosts in the 43rd.
It was the third match in a row on the road for Madrid, which asked to start away from home because of renovation work at its Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The team will be back at the venue for its match against Real Betis on Saturday.
Madrid beat Almería and Celta Vigo in its first two games. Espanyol stayed winless after having drawn at Celta before losing to Rayo Vallecano at home.
VILLARREAL HELD
Villarreal ended its perfect record with a 0-0 draw at Getafe, which was yet to win a point this season.
Unai Emery’s Villarreal had most of the scoring chances. A penalty kick in its favor deep into stoppage time was reversed after video review.
Getafe had conceded three goals in each of its first two matches.
Cádiz was the only other team without a point entering the weekend. It will have a chance to end its losing streak when it hosts unbeaten Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
FAN VIOLENCE
Police had to intervene after a confrontation between fans of second division clubs Racing Santander and Oviedo on Sunday.
Authorities said the fans threw rocks and other objects at each other.
There were no reports of injuries or arrests.
Oviedo won the match 1-0 in Santander.
Source: United News of Bangladesh
Dhaka’s air quality turns ‘good’
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 50, Dhaka’s air quality turned ‘good’ Monday morning.
The metropolis ranked 41st in the list of world cities with the worst air quality at 9 am.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered to be ‘good’ while between 50 and 100 ‘moderate’.
Israel’s Jerusalem, Russia’s Moscow and Kuwait’s Kuwait City occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 161, 155 and 141, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered ‘unhealthy’, particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be ‘poor’, while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered ‘hazardous’, posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
Read:Dhaka’s air quality remains ‘moderate’
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants — Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka “are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites”.
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Source: United News of Bangladesh