MADRID, March 7: Barcelona displayed its offensive depth on Sunday, resorting to goal-hungry substitutes to salvage a victory and keep its momentum in the Spanish league.
Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay came off the bench to score second-half goals as Barcelona rallied to beat Elche 2-1 to move up in the standings. The victory moved the Catalan club up a spot to third place, level on points with fourth-place Atlético Madrid,.
The hosts opened the scoring just before halftime after Pedri González’s clearance inadvertently turned into a pass to Elche forward Fidel Chaves, who entered the area and fired a low shot into the far corner.
Barcelona equalized in the 60th with a close-range goal by Torres.
Depay, who replaced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, scored the winner by converting an 84th-minute penalty kick called after a video review because of a handball.
Elche later loudly complained about a similar handball inside the area against Barcelona that was not called near the end of the game.
Aubameyang was kept scoreless after scoring five goals in his last three games.
João Félix scored twice and Thomas Lemar added another goal as Atlético won 3-1 at Betis to move into fourth place and the final Champions League spot.
It was the third league win in a row for Diego Simeone’s team, which trails Barcelona on the head-to-head tiebreaker. (AP)
