Football Update: Barcelona Wins Away At Getafe As Gerard Pique Sent Off
Barcelona needed a victory against Getafe in order to put pressure on Real Madrid, who was facing Atletico Madrid later on. In the end, it was another good display for Barcelona until Gerard Pique was sent off after getting his second yellow card.
Gerard Pique had shown his desire to play in El Classico, but his place was being threatened because of the yellow cards limit. Unfortunately, Pique picked up a red card in the match, due to which he would miss the match against Villarreal. However, he would
be back on his yellow cards limit when Barcelona would face Almeria. So, Pique would have to be on his good behaviour in that match and avoid a card. Things would be getting tougher for the Spanish centre-back, who looks likely to miss the El Classico on 28th
November.
Barcelona FC was up by three goals, but Pique’s sending off gave a penalty and a lifeline to the opposition. However, Barcelona got the breathing space when Derek Boateng was shown a red card as well. In the end, the three goals scored before the first sending
off proved crucial in the victory against Getafe.
Pep Guardiola, the manager of Barcelona, chose his full squad for this match. However, Javier Mascherano was started instead of Sergio Busquets. Apart from him, Andres Iniesta and Xavi were present in the midfield for Barcelona. Seydou Keita was also on
the bench for this particular match.
David Villa and Pedro came close to scoring in the first half, before Lionel Messi stepped up once again for the opening goal of the match. The young Argentinean was the one providing the finishing touch to a good move by Barcelona. The move involved Dani
Alves and Villa before Messi shot in behind Jordi Codina.
In the 34th minute, Villa was on the score sheet as well. Previously, he was denied a goal because of offside, but this time he made sure that he remained behind the final defender. Messi played a great through ball to the Spanish striker, who
finished in a great manner. The half ended with Barcelona leading against the home side by two goals.
In the second half, Barcelona kept on attacking their opposition. However, the third goal came late, after the hour mark. Once again, Messi was the provider of the ball to his teammate, Pedro. The ball was well placed while Pedro just had to apply the finishing
touch, which he did for the third goal.
After a few minutes, Barcelona suffered the setback, as Pique was shown the door for handling the ball in the penalty area. This resulted in the second yellow card, while his first one came because of another handball in the midfield area. Pique was sent
off, while Getafe got a penalty as a result. Manu stepped up and scored from penalty spot. The diving Victor Valdes had the ball in his reach but he could not stop the fiery shot.
After this goal, Getafe went on the front foot as they kept attacking the Catalans. Barcelona, who were enjoying a lot of possession before, were now chasing the ball for most part. Getafe had a lot of chances, but Victor Valdes and his defenders were up
to the challenge. Guardiola had to make some changes as well, as he brought on Gabriel Milito, Sergio Busquets and Seydou Keita.
At one point it did look like that the home side might pull another one back, but they had a setback. Derek Boateng was shown a second yellow card for a very poor mistimed challenge. Now, the game was level once again, in terms of playing men on the field.
Barcelona finished in style with a lot of possession in the last ten minutes. There were some chances as well, but Messi was kept away by Codina. In the end, the match ended with a 3-1 victory, and Barcelona going on top of the table for a short period as
well.
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