Three hard-earned points

Barça have beaten Almeria 2-0 in a slow moving game.

Goals from Henry and Messi, who made his mark in the last quarter of an hour, put the balance in favour of the team who had most chances.


Playing with little vision, and possibly still tired from last week, Barça faced more problems than expected against a plucky Almeria. It’s not that the Andalucian team gave Valdés much work, but Barçá’s lack of fluidity caused some nervous moments in the stands. An opportune goal by Henry near the end of the first half took away any element of surprise, but Barça seemed to be missing Messi during the first 74 minutes. In the end, a goal from a penalty by the Argentinean star ten minutes from the end assured that the three points would stay at home.

Pressure from visitors
Unai Emery’s men began with their ideas clear. Well positioned, they put pressure on Barça’s creation zone. With few opportunities of getting the ball to Xavi or Iniesta, Barça played with patience from the back, and also fought to win the ball in their opponent’s half. Without being offered any verticality, Thierry Henry struggled to get into the game.

Henry opportunistic
Barça’s first chances came with a counter-attack which Ronaldinho played into the hands of Cobeño and two weak shots from Milito after two corners. Almeria had the game as they wanted, with Barça looking uncomfortable. The crowd also began to get impatient, whistling at the Almeria goalkeeper’s attempts to waste time.

Nervousness changed to euphoria in the 37th minute. Giovani won the ball from Almeria’s defence, and when Cobeño tried to neutralise the situation, he left Henry with a dead ball, leaving the Frenchmen to enjoy his fourth league goal (and his first in Camp Nou). The goal came as a relief to Barça, who had been unable till then to break the Andalucians’ defensive wall.



Brave Almeria
Puyol, who had been impeccable on returning to his central position, was substituted by Márquez after half time because of intestinal problems. The Mexican defender, along with Zambrotta and Touré, was back after three weeks out through injury. The game looked open, and the first chance of the second half was a missed header from Crusat (min. 50). This afternoon, Almeria have shown bravery and good footballing taste.

Enter Messi
During the second half, Barça persisted in looking for a second goal. Iniesta had the clearest chance with a shot from the edge of the area which Cobeño saved (min.62). Despite this, Barça’s imprecision continued. Rijkaard modified the midfield, bringing on Gudjohnsen for Touré Yaya. The panorama didn’t change with the Icelandic player and the next one to come on was Messí (min 74).

A calmer end
Giovani won a penalty in the 79th minute and Messí sent Cobeño the wrong way.
The 2-0 lead made the last part of the game calmer, and produced two of the best moves of the game. The first started with Henry and ended with Giovanni just missing. Straight after, a pass from Messi to Henry brought off a good save from Cobeño. These last actions left a better taste in the mouth in a victory which was more complicated than expected.

Goals :
1-0 Henry (min 37)
2-0 Messi (p) (min 79)


Source : FCB