Ansu Fati scored on his first Barcelona appearance in 10 months to ease the pressure on under-fire boss Ronald Koeman in a 3-0 win over Levante at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Memphis Depay had given Barca the lead before Luuk de Jong scored his first goal for the club since joining from Sevilla on the final day of the summer transfer window, but Ansu stole the show with his 10-minute cameo.
But the hosts raced out of the blocks and were ahead after just six minutes when Memphis won and converted a penalty following a clumsy challenge from Levante's Nemanja Radoja.
Barca were 2-0 up nine minutes later thanks to fellow Netherlands forward De Jong. Sergino Dest was key in the goal as he led a counterattack and fed De Jong, who coolly slotted the ball past Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez.
Despite the feel-good factor in Camp Nou with Ansu's return, Barca had Marc-Andre ter Stegen to thank for maintaining their advantage as he was called upon to make two late saves.
But Ansu, Barca's new No. 10, made the points safe with the third in stoppage time to evoke an even more enthusiastic reaction from the supporters as he went into the crowd to celebrate with the doctor who helped his recovery from a serious knee injury.
However, the loudest cheer of the day was reserved for the 80th minute, when Ansu replaced De Jong.
I didn't imagine a comeback like this," Ansu said after the match. "When we play at home we always have to win. I am happy with the victory. We still have a long way to go.
"I want to show my appreciation to the doctors and the physios that have been with me throughout this process. And also to the fans, who were incredible."
Asked he felt any pressure at wearing the No. 10 shirt vacated by Lionel Messi, he said: "Not for me. It's an honour to wear it after Leo, I'm grateful to the club and the captains for giving me the chance to wear it.
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Ansu Fati may likely be the new Messi for Barcelona.
hi @chidiadi1. I have visited your post as you have been tagged in a contest that I am running for newcomers to Hive. Are you aware of the rules around plagiarism? I ask because your article is almost 100% completely lifted from this ESPN article and is therefore not your own original work. See here: Ansu Fati nets on Barcelona return to ease pressure on Ronald Koeman Members of Hive are not allowed to publish the work of others as their own. Any citations or quotes of the work of others must be appropriately acknowledged with links to the source documents. Having said this, it also does not suffice to copy someone else's work completely and then provide the link to the same copied work. You will not earn author rewards for copy and paste efforts. Plagiarism is frowned upon and may result in your posts being downvoted by others and your earnings completely removed. It is very important to learn the rules of the platform and have respect for them. I will be following you in the hope of seeing original posts going forwards. @scholaris do you have anything more to add here? The post is outside its earning window.
I believe you have enlightened him the more on this issue of plagiarism. I also believe that he will turn a new leaf. I will also make efforts to make him become original as I am also following him too. Let's just hope that this one will be the last he will run foul of the rules. Let's tamper justice with mercy on him because I know that after reading all these comments he will definitely change for good. Thanks for your understanding.
Congratulations @chidiadi1! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Your next target is to reach 50 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP