Gundogan leads Barca to win

Ilkay Gundogan set up Robert Lewandowski and scored a goal of his own to lead 10-man Barcelona to a 3-1 win at Alaves in the Spanish league on Saturday. Second-place Girona missed the chance to retake the lead after being held 0-0 at home by Real Sociedad. Girona coach Michel Sanchez was sent off with a red card in the 89th, apparently for excessive protests. Girona is one point behind Real Madrid, which hosts fourth-place Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Barcelona was already leading 3-1 when substitute Vitor Roque, who scored the visitors’ third goal, was sent off in the 72nd minute after picking up two quick yellow cards. This made it two straight wins for Barcelona since Xavi Hernandez said he would not continue as coach after this season following last weekend’s 5-3 loss at home to Villarreal. After that debacle he had said his players had lacked the ‘maturity’ to protect their lead and compete for the entire match. But after the comfortable win in Vitoria, Xavi praised his team for what he called a ‘mature,’ all-round performance. “I think my team played a mature game,” Xavi said. “It showed it knew how to compete, and at a pitch that is very demanding and requires you to be focused for 90 minutes. I am satisfied. This is the response by the team that I expected.” Barcelona also won midweek with a 1-0 league win over Osasuna, thanks to Roque’s first goal since joining the team last month. Lewandowski ended a six-round scoreless streak when he chipped the goalkeeper after receiving a through ball from Gundogan for the opener in the 22nd. After Alaves came close to equalizing at the end of the first half, Gundogan skillfully volleyed in a lobbed pass by Pedri González at the far post to double the lead in the 49th.