Barcelona made it 12 matches
unbeaten in La Liga courtesy of an
astonishing 5-4 victory over Deportivo
at the Riazor on Saturday evening, in a
thrilling match that saw six goals
scored before half-time.
Well-taken strikes from Jordi Alba,
Cristian Tello and Lionel Messi made it
3-0 to Tito Vilanova's side inside 20
minutes, before Pizzi reduced the
deficit with a penalty. Alex Bergantinos
then beat Valdes with a half-volley
from distance before Messi made it
4-2 with a low finish from 15 yards
shortly before the break.
Pizzi grabbed his second with a fine
free-kick shortly after half-time before
Barcelona's Javier Mascherano was
sent off for a second yellow card after
an altercation with Riki. Messi
completed his hat-trick with an
explosive run and finish in the 77th
minute, but there was still time for
more drama as Alba sent a volley past
his own goalkeeper Victor Valdes to
make it 5-4.
The Catalan side were able to hold on,
however, to maintain their position at
the top of the Primera Division table.
The visitors gave a firm signal of their
intent by taking the lead after just
three minutes through Jordi Alba.
The Spain international took a pass
from Cesc Fabregas in his stride
brilliantly before stroking a shot past
Dani Aranzubia.
Within five minutes they had increased
their lead, after a driving run and
clipped pass from Messi found Tello
on the right. The youngster
immediately set off for goal, turning
the Deportivo left-back Ayoze inside-
out on the edge of the box before
hammering a low shot between the
legs of Aranzubia.
Not to be outdone by the goalscoring
exploits of his team-mates, Messi
soon added his name to the
scoresheet, smashing in Barcelona's
third with his left foot from 18 yards
after a delightful backheel from
Fabregas had pulled Deportivo's two
centre-backs Carlos Marchena and Ze
Castro out of position, and cleared
the way to goal for his Argentine
team-mate.
Despite their imperious attacking play
Barcelona offered Deportivo a chance
to get back in to the match when
Javier Mascherano caught Pizzi with a
sliding challenge as he burst into the
penalty area. The referee awarded a
penalty despite the visiting players
suggesting the foul was outside the
box, and Pizzi wasted no time in
stepping up to take the spot-kick he
had won, confidently dispatching past
Victor Valdes.
Deportivo struck again shortly after
through Bergantinos, the midfielder
making it 3-2 in the 37th minute with
a well-struck half-volley from the edge
of the box that ricocheted off Valdes
and into the back of the net.
Suddenly, the hosts were back in the
game, after being seemingly dead and
buried so early in the contest.
The flurry of first-half goals did not
stop there, though, as Messi scored
the sixth goal of the half, and his
second of the evening, running on to
a fine outside-of-the-boot pass from
Fabregas before firing a low shot into
the bottom left-hand corner of
Aranzubia's goal.
Any who thought the second half
would not live up to the first were
given a jolt in the 47th minute as Pizzi
curled an inch-perfect free-kick into
the top right corner from 25 yards to
cut Barcelona's lead to just one.
Minutes after Pizzi had made it 4-3
Barcelona were reduced to 10 men
following the sending off of Javier
Mascherano for a second bookable
offence. The referee Jose Paradas
deemed the Argentine to have caught
Riki with a flailing arm after the striker
dribbled towards him, but replays
showed that he got the ball and made
little contact with the Deportivo player.
Messi then came within millimetres of
completing his hat-trick from a set
piece as his vicious free-kick from 30
yards came cannoning back off
Aranzubia's left-hand post and away
to safety.
Messi did eventually notch his third of
the night in the 77th minute. After
dispossessing Ze Castro 45 yards from
goal, the Argentine powered towards
the Deportivo goal before unleashing
an unstoppable shot into the bottom
right corner with his left foot.
A moment of madness from Alba
supplied Deportivo with a lifeline, as
he volleyed the ball into his own net
under pressure from Riki inside the
Barcelona penalty area to make the
score 5-4.
Deportivo committed men forward
late on as they went in search of an
equaliser but Barcelona's makeshift
defence managed to withstand the
pressure and hold out for all three
points in what was one of the most
engrossing, unlikely, incredible
encounters of the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment