Spanish La Liga: Deportivo vs Barcelona – Second Half Report (Part 2)
Ibrahim Afellay and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Villa-c10629 took place. Probably Josep Guardiola was now trying to save his first team players for the next big game as this match
already looked to be over even before time. The Catalans dominated the play throughout the first 75 minutes of the game.
The Deportivo striker Adrian mostly looked to be outnumbered up front. He was playing as a “sole” striker for the mid-table club as there was no one else to support him up front. Whenever http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Adrián-c3701 got the ball at his feet, he usually found himself alone against
two Barcelona defenders – http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carles-Puyol-c8331, who always stole the ball away from him.
During the 78th minute, the Ballon d’Or finalist Andres Iniesta made sure that he gets his name on the score board before heading off to the ceremony where he or the other two Barcelona stars – Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez – will be presented
with the prestigious award. The midfield magician got the ball on the right wing and after dribbling past two Deportivo defenders, he curved the shot into the goal with his left foot and thus found the back of the net. It was now 0-3 for the away team and
there looked no way for Deportivo to get back into the game.
Even though the Catalans looked to be done with their task, they still had other tricks up their sleeves. As the Deportivo manager deployed slightly offensive tactics after Barcelona's third goal, the La Blaugrana got the ball on the break and it was Lionel
Messi who ran past three Deportivo defenders. The Argentinean gave a wonderful pass to Pedro Rodriguez who lobbed it over Aranzubia and found the fourth goal of the game for his side. With this, he took his tally to 9 consecutive goals from the last 9 games
in the Spanish La Liga.
After the fourth goal, Josep Guardiola called off two more of his goal scorers in the match to make sure that his favourite players are saved for future usage. Pedro Rodriguez made way for the newly signed Dutch star http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ibrahim-Afellay-c16547 as Andres Iniesta went
off for the Barca B youngster, Thiago Alcantara.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 had another wonderful opportunity during the 87th minute as he combined well with Bojan Krkic. Both the Barcelona stars made superb one-touch passes and at the end, the ball fell at Messi’s feet who got past both the Deportivo defenders
in his way and took his shot on goal. Even though the shot taken was simply extraordinary, Aranzubia luckily saved it and sent it out for a corner kick which did not really turn out to be positive.
Only two minutes of extra time were awarded by the referee but the final whistle was blown even before the 92nd minute ended as Barcelona were already winning the game by a huge margin. Lionel Messi was the star of the show with two assists and
one goal. With these three points, the Catalans managed to hold their position at the top of the Spanish La Liga table by being five points clear from Real Madrid.
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