Spanish La Liga: Espanyol vs Barcelona – Second Half Report (Part 1)
After the first half ending in the Cornella-El Prat stadium, Barcelona were the side leading the game with a two goal margin. Despite the fact that the home side were down with two goals, they looked to be dominant in terms of possession. Barcelona are famous
for keeping possession in the centre of the pitch but Espanyol were the side who were dominating Josep Guardiola’s men in their home ground. With the second half starting, both the sides looked to be sticking to their starting line up.
The Spanish champions looked to be on top of their game after returning from the locker rooms. The Spanish giants were now dominating the game the way that they missed out in the first half. Soon, it was Pedro Rodriguez who got the chance to score during
the third minute. The Spanish youngster found himself in a one-on-one situation yet again as a pass from Andres Iniesta was simply inch perfect. However, the World Cup winning youngster played it selflessly towards http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 but the ball was well cleared
by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Victor-Ruiz-c36094 Torre.
Espanyol were trying their best to find the back of the net in order to get back into the game but it was simply hard for their striking trio to get past the defensive walls of Barcelona. The home team got a wonderful opportunity during the third minute
of the second half but the Barcelona captain http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Carles-Puyol-c8331 simply robbed them of their chance by heading the ball to safety. The cross from Baena looked to be finding Luis Garcia’s head but the Barcelona captain was there to save the day for his side.
On the other hand, Barcelona looked to be totally dominant in terms of goal scoring. It was Lionel Messi who made a fine run from the centre of the pitch till he found Pedro Rodriguez’s feet. After playing a one-two with the Spanish youngster the Argentinean
maestro moved on to find the back of the net but his shot was deflected by the Espanyol goalkeeper. The deflected ball found Pedro Rodriguez’s feet yet again as he scored his second for the night. Barcelona were now leading with a three goal margin.
The home side were not to take any chances up front as their coach http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mauricio-c24899 Pochettino decided to replace pace with experience. Luis Garcia was taken off for Jesus Datolo and the young Espanyol star made immediate impact. Right after one minute it was the
“power substitute” Jesus Datolo who outran Carles Puyol and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Pique with his run and got the ball past Victor Valdes to score the first goal for his side to put their team back into the game.
This was the first goal that the Spanish champions conceded in their last five games and a crucial one as well. With the first goal coming for the home team, their coach decided to make another change in order to add pace to the midfield. It was Chica who
was taken off and Amat who came on as a defender replacing a midfielder to change the formation to 3-5-3 – an attacking approach.
To be continued in Part 2...
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