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LOS ANGELES — New signing Malcom scored the winning spot-kick on his Barcelona debut as the La Liga champions beat Tottenham on penalties following a 2-2 draw in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.

The Brazilian rolled home from the spot just four days after joining the club from in a €41 million deal from Bordeaux after Anthony Georgiou had missed for Spurs.

It had been a tale of two halves at the Rose Bowl, with first-half goals from Munir El Haddadi and Arthur Melo easing Barca into a comfortable lead.

However, Ernesto Valverde’s decision to make eight changes at the break allowed Spurs to get back into the match and they levelled thanks to efforts from Son Heung-Min and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.

Sergi Palencia, Son, Abel Ruiz, Ben Davies and Monchu all scored from the spot in the shootout before Georgiou saw his effort saved by Jasper Cillessen.

Riqui Puig and Davinson Sanchez then exchanged goals, setting the stage for Malcom, who had come on as a substitute at half-time.
Valverde will have been impressed with what he saw in the first half as an experimental side made light work of their Premier League opponents despite being unable to call on the 12 players who took part in the World Cup, including Lionel Messi.

Munir and Denis Suarez had already missed chances and United States international Cameron Carter-Vickers had made two impressive blocks for Spurs when Barca eventually took the lead.

Sergi Roberto’s perfectly placed ball in the 15th minute found Rafinha at the far post and the Brazilian headed it back to Munir, who nodded home.

Injuries then took a grip of the game for both sides, with Barca losing Denis and Andre Gomes, while Tottenham lost Moussa Sissoko to leave them short in midfield.

Barca maintained their rhythm, though, and doubled their lead when Rafinha set up the impressive Arthur, a €31m arrival from Gremio this summer, on the edge of the box.

The Barcelona side which came out for the second half featured nine players from the B team, who play their football in the third tier of Spanish football, and Spurs soon took control of the game.

Christian Eriksen, always dangerous, hit the post from a free kick before Son pulled one back from close range after sloppy defending.

Spurs looked like they would go onto win the game when N’Koudou pulled them level but Barca’s youngsters held out for penalties and Malcom got to sign off the perfect debut.

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