Levante awarded three penalties but lost to Barcelona
Key takeaways:
- Marc-Andre ter Stegen's penalty block turned the game on its head.
- Barcelona kept their fine La Liga form with a great victory as they came from behind to defeat a Levante side given three second-half penalties.
After the break, the match exploded into life when Levante defender Son was challenged by Dani Alves, letting Jose Luis Morales convert from the spot.
The home team was handed a second penalty four minutes after Eric Garcia handballed, only for forward Roger to hit Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barca replied, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heading in a wonderful Ousmane Dembele cross before two substitutes united as Gavi teed up Pedri for a sweeping finish.
Ter Stegen's block had given a springboard for Barca to turn the match. Still, he faced a third penalty after Maxi Gomez was fouled by Clement Lenglet - who had been on the ground for less than two minutes - and this time, substitute Gonzalo Melero sent the goalie the wrong way to equalize.
Levante - seven points from safety - looked to have made a deserved point, but Luuk de Jong headed home Jordi Alba's cross in injury time, making him the third replacement to net in an excellent second half.
Levante must somehow see a healthy points return in their previous seven matches to avoid the drop, and they will wonder how they did not take something from an evening where three penalties fell their way.
They had gone most intimate in a dull first half when Morales' excellent solo run saw him refused by a combination of Ter Stegen and Garcia on the goal line.
But Barca stays the most in-form squad in Europe's top-five leagues on a run of 11 victories and four draws from their previous 15 La Liga matches.