Yamal helps Barcelona equal best start in La Liga history

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring a goal during the La Liga match against Real Betis on Saturday.

Barcelona equalled the best start to a La Liga season in history by claiming a ninth successive win in a fiery 5-2 win over 10-man Real Betis.

Lamine Yamal inspired the victory, which saw Hansi Flick’s side match a record set by Real Madrid back in the 1968-69 season.

Yamal scored a brilliant opener and set up Gabriel Jesus for the third, with Rodri netting his first for Barca and Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo also on target.

Betis went into the match in third place and scored through Valentin Gomez and Abde Ezzalzouli but, moments after the latter had pulled it back to 3-2, Facundo Bernal was shown a red card for tangling with Yamal.

The result was the ideal way to kick off a big week for Barca, who play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League before taking on Real in the league next weekend.

Yamal needed less than 10 minutes to make his mark, producing a brilliant turn on the edge of the area and an even better finish, curling a 20-yard shot into the top corner.

Barca dominated possession but Betis drew level in the 27th minute when the visitors failed to clear a corner and Gomez powerfully headed in Pablo Fornals’ cross.

Yamal played in Karim Adeyemi, who was denied by a strong hand from Alvaro Valles, while Hector Bellerin saw his shot well saved by Joan Garcia at the other end.

Barca went back in front four minutes before the break from a corner, with Rodri capitalising on hesitation from Valles, but Betis were furious to see an apparent equalizer ruled out only two minutes

Giovani Lo Celso brilliantly found the top corner with a left-foot volley on the spin from outside the box but it was disallowed for a handball in the build-up.

Chances continued to flow after the break and, moments after Jesus saw a first-time finish from a Yamal cross ruled out for a marginal offside, the same two players combined for a goal that did count.