Football News: Barcelona VS Real Sociedad, Robert Lewandowski steals the limelight on his birthday 

On his 34th birthday, Robert Lewandowski scored twice and assisted once as Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 4-1.

The Polish international scored after only 49 seconds, but the hosts responded through Alexander Isak. Ousmane Dembele gave Barcelona the lead again before Lewandowski added a second, and Ansu Fati capped the onslaught.

It was Barcelona's first LaLiga victory of the season, with Ansu Fati coming off the bench in the second half to take control of the game with two assists and a goal.

How does Barcelona vs Real Sociedad play out?

Polish striker Lewandowski scored his first LaLiga goal since joining Bayern Munich in the first minute. Five minutes later, Alexander Isak equalised after latching on to a feed from David Silva.

Robert Lewandowski scored Barcelona's earliest LaLiga goal since Andres Iniesta vs Recreativo in 2009 (43 seconds) and the competition's earliest away goal since Javier Saviola versus Real Valladolid in 2004. (30 seconds).

Soon after, La Real equalised through a deflected Alexander Isak attempt after Frenkie de Jong, filling in for the suspended Sergio Busquets, fumbled the ball in midfield.

For an hour, they outplayed Barcelona, quickly recovering from conceding within the first minute to tie and have a better chance of winning by halftime.

The two teams swapped blows in a close game before Xavi Hernandez's substitutions turned the tide in Barcelona's favour.

Barcelona struggled to break the deadlock until the 64th minute when coach Xavi Hernandez introduced Raphinha and Ansu. Ousmane Dembele scored in the 66th minute, followed by Lewandowski's second two minutes later. It was then Ansu's time in the 79th minute to score and put the game away.

Raphinha, a €55 million acquisition from Leeds United, was introduced, but Ansu, an academy product, stole the stage. The 19-year-old had an early impact, assisting Dembele and Lewandowski and scored his first goal of the season in the 79th minute.

Ousmane Dembele extended his excellent preseason form by blasting into the bottom corner after a fantastic back-heel from Ansu Fati.

Dembele's goal kicked off Barcelona's excellent final 25 minutes, with Lewandowski adding his second minutes later and the Polish striker then producing a superbly improvised ball to set up Ansu for the fourth.

After a dull goalless draw at home to Rayo Vallecano in the season opener, Xavi opted to try his hand at Anoeta. With the win, Xavi's team moves up to the fifth place.