ACTUALITE |
02.05.2005
Barcelona still six points clear!
The goals
1-0, Eto`o (66`) 2-0, Messi (90`)
The league championship is surely now just a matter of time after Eto`o and Messi strikes were enough to bring Barça the three points and all but condemn Albacete to second division football. Barça are six points clear at the top of the league with just four games left to play.
Albacete may wear the name of Don Quijote on their shirts, but their was nothing adventurous about their performance tonight as a team that has very little left to play for opted to come to the Camp Nou on a damage limitation exercise. It took Barcelona longer than expected to finally break the deadlock, but the eventual 2-0 win as good as puts paid to any lingering hopes that Real Madrid may still have of claiming this season`s league title.
Albacete make life difficult
The game got off to a slow start, with Barcelona creating little more than half chances, and Albacete rarely crossing the halfway line. It wasn`t until the 27th minute, and a Ronaldinho free kick that was finger-tipped away by Alba keeper Valbuena that either side caused any serious danger. Shortly after, Giuly delightfully controlled the ball on the right to slip a through ball to Eto`o, who mistimed the run and allowed time to Valbuena to intervene. Albacete`s only clear-cut opportunity of the whole game came in the 36th minute.
A terrific counterattack left Mark Gónzalez in a goalscoring position, but he was only able to drive the ball straight into the hands of Victor Valdés. Barça responded to the wake-up call with two Rafa Marquez chances, one a header and the other a powerful long-range drive, but at half time, and with the teams still locked at 0-0, things were far from decided.
Eto`o breaks the deadlock
The second half began with Ronaldinho seeing a header tipped over the bar, and the Brazilian rightfully reacting by demanding a little more life from both the fans and the team. Both Iniesta and Belletti had their own chances before, in the 65th minute, a Deco backheel into the area was met by Ronaldinho, who laid the ball on to Eto`o to smash an unstoppable strike from the edge of the area, and in off the Albacete post to put the home team into a 1-0 lead. That was the Cameroonian`s 22nd goal of the season.
Albacete might have been expected to respond with a more attacking approach to the game, but that was not the case, and instead the final thirty minutes were a case of Barcelona, with the win already looking secure, trying to break down a solid but ambitious visiting team that, with this result, can surely only have second division football to look forward to next season.
Delight for Messi
In the final minute, Ronaldinho chipped a delicate ball to substitute Leo Messi to lob home for what would have been his first official goal for Barcelona, but the referee adjuged the Argentinian to have been in an offside position. But merely seconds later, and in an almost identical move, Messi lobbed Valbuena yet again from Ronaldinho chip, and this time was able to celebrate a goal that secured a 2-0 win and a giant`s step towards the Spanish league title.
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