Lewandowski is worth the three points in Mestalla
Barça takes the victory in minute 93 with the best striker in the League
MADRID, 29 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A goal from Robert Lewandowski in the 93rd minute gave victory to FC Barcelona this Saturday in their visit to Mestalla on matchday 12 of LaLiga Santander, a match that brought the Barça team under control without success, suffering from Valencia’s reaction in the second time to find his Polish savior.
The former Bayern Munich player scored in stoppage time, stretching his leg to the limit on a pass from Rapinha, his 13th league goal to allow Xavi Hernández’s men to put some pressure on Real Madrid. After the bump in the Champions League, Barça reaffirmed itself in the domestic competition although suffering.
Barça was not a gale at the start, but with a calm march it was enough to be better than the ‘che’ team in the first half and even deserve to go ahead to the locker room. The pressure above gave the first to both, the Barça player being clearer.
Calm came to the Mestalla lawn with the long possession of a calm Barça, but capable of generating danger out of nowhere, like a measured pass from Pedri that Ansu Fati pardoned against Mamardashvili. The Spanish striker, who does not want to miss the World Cup, was not successful in a weak first half for the locals.
Valencia scratched with its centrals and took pains not to give away, but it did not finish being forceful. On the other hand, Cavani’s injury at 15 minutes, the goal man in the last three games, left Gattuso’s team without reference. All in all, Kluivert and Marcos André won a couple of races from Eric García.
The Spanish centre-back, who was substituted before the break, was the one who had the most work, with a vital Kounde to cut off the pass of death to Patrick Kluivert’s son. Before the break came the clearest for both teams, with a header against the post by Lewandowski and another wide but frank by Gabriel Paulista.
After the break, Valencia got their act together, increased their intensity in defense and began to reach Ter Stegen’s goal. The first in fact went inside, from Lino, but the referee annulled it due to a previous hand from Marcos André. Mestalla was also taken for granted and the game was getting complicated for a Barça without rhythm.
The speed that he lacked in the first half was not found by Barça in the second, nor with the entry of Ferran, Gavi or Rapinha. The former Valencia player, quite whistled on his return home, was the one who was closest to the goal, especially already in the final stretch in one that he only had to push. Xavi’s men found gaps and chances while Gattuso’s men lost their verticality.
Kounde’s injury added drama to a Barça that was beginning to see the three points slip away, but Rapinha detected Lewandowski’s unchecking for 0-1 in stoppage time. The game, which had been to put the leg without asking, ended with a couple of tanganas that did not help the locals to desperately look for the tie.
After saying goodbye in the Champions League and losing once again to Bayern, Barça heals the wounds in a League that for the moment hold on top, tied on 31 points with one more game, in a fight with Madrid. Valencia, in its fourth day in a row without winning, misses the train of the European zone missing Cavani or another who put them in pairs like David Villa, honored at Mestalla.
–RESULT: VALENCIA CF, 0 – FC BARCELONA, 1. (0-0, at halftime).
VALENCIA CF: Mamardashvili; Thierry (Jesús Vázquez, min.80), Gabriel Paulista, Comert, Gayà; Guillamón, Foulquier, Almeida (Lato, min.72); Kluivert (Castillejo, min.72), Samuel Lino and Cavani (Marcos André, min.18).
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Balde, Kounde (Pique, 74th min), Eric Garcia (Marcos Alonso, 42nd min), Jordi Alba; Busquets (Gavi, min.56), De Jong, Pedri; Dembele (Ferran, 56th minute), Ansu Fati (Raphinha, 57th minute) and Lewandowski.
0 – 1, min.93, Lewandowski.
–REFEREE: From Burgos Bengoetxea (C. Vasco). He admonished Lino (min.67), Guillamón (min.84), Foulquier (min.97) and Castillejo (min.97) by Valencia. And Eric García (min.21), Marcos Alonso (min.45), Gavi (min.89), Piqué (min.92) and Ferran (min.98) at Barça.
–STADIUM: Mestalla.
