Dembele breaks Barça goal drought at the perfect moment

Ousmane Dembele came off the bench at half-time to spark Barcelona's comeback win against Linares Deportivo in the Copa del Rey.

Dembele scored the equalising goal as Barça went on to win 2-1, with a left-footed shot from outside the area that beat the home goalkeeper.

The Frenchman started the game on the bench after recovering from Covid-19. In the midst of rumours about his contract renewal, Xavi, seeing his team behind after 45 minutes, decided to bring him on at the break -- and he didn't disappoint."

Dembele's last goal for Barça came in May 2021. Since then, he's not seen the back of the net, although it's also true he's been injured for a large part of that time, which has been the biggest obstacle during his Barça career.

He returned from injury in November but it's taken until January for him to score his first goal of the season -- and it was an important one in terms of Barça's cup hopes. Ferran Jutgla went on to score the winner.

According to MisterChip, Dembele's scored five goals in the Copa for Barça and they were all decisive. He scored the first two in a comeback against Levante, the first goal in an extra-time win over Cornella and the first in the comeback over Sevilla in last season's semifinal.