MADRID (AP) — 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.
It was the fourth goal in three matches for Lewandowski, who had also scored a double in the 4-1 win at Real Sociedad last weekend. He was also twice denied by the woodwork at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
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 minute 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.
Barcelona finally could count on new signing Jules 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.
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.
Defending champion Real Madrid will go for its third straight win to start the league when it visits Espanyol later Sunday.
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.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
___
Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni