FC Barcelona got three points suffered but forced (1-2) on their visit to UD Las Palmas this Thursday on matchday 19 of LaLiga EA Sports, thanks to a penalty that Ilkay Gündogan converted in the 93rd minute, to close the first back to seven points from the leadership shared by Real Madrid and Girona.
Xavi Hernández’s team is still far from the version that was expected to be seen this season in the current League champion, but with a kind of Christmas miracle he achieved victory for Gran Canaria to not fall further from the fight for the title. The first half was yellow, with a goal from Munir, and Barça reacted with great difficulty, achieving the tie in a carom play.
Ferran made it 1-1 but the visitors’ chances did not multiply either. Las Palmas regained control of the ball in the final stretch, where Joao Félix entered and Vitor Roque made his debut, but after the Portuguese’s shot was rebound, Sinkgraven committed a penalty on Gündogan. The German made it 1-2 that keeps the Barça momentum going and leaves the Canaries in the middle of the table.
Barça once again left a lot to be desired and went into the break without a shot on goal. After an “unacceptable” first half according to Xavi against Almería, his team returned with a hangover from the Holidays, handcuffed by a rival with an advanced defense and very clear ideas. Las Palmas forced the Barça team to play long and found space at the back when they looked up.
The opening game of the current champion took place pending whether or not Cancelo had been injured in an action with Perrone after three minutes. The Portuguese ended up substituted, but during 10 minutes of testing and defending in the box, Las Palmas took advantage of it to reach and even make it 1-0 with a simple line shot.
The Catalan team did not win, there are already many games without good pressure after losing, and García Pimienta’s team opened Sandro’s wing and the Canarian put the center to Munir, with Iñaki Peña in the middle, in a 1-0 between two former Barça players. The visiting hope seemed like a Bucket with depth as it had done for a long time, but haste almost always led to a long pass.
There, Álvaro Valles was attentive and also that yellow line in defense that almost always left the Barça attack offside. As against Valencia, Frenkie de Jong took center stage in those passes but without precision or a good unmarking, except for one from Sergi Roberto, architect of the victory against Almería, which did not come to fruition. The rest went to order from Canarian mouths.
BARÇA SPOILS THE CANARIAN PARTY
Those from Pimienta even forgave Javi Muñoz, only as in the 1-0, Sandro well associated with Moleiro or a Munir who was close to standing alone against Peña. The talk that Xavi was once again forced to give in the locker room gave Barça something more precise, without an excellent combination but something finer in the long pass.
De Jong improved the goal but again Las Palmas reached the rival goal first: a good save from Peña to Munir. The Virgen del Pino appeared to Barça around the hour mark with a shot in Lewandowski’s face that turned into an assist for Ferran (1-0). Las Palmas retreated a lot from that damaging line so far but Xavi’s team was not inspired.
Joao Félix and Lamine Yamal helped lock up the Canaries, but Pimienta’s team came out of the cave in the last minutes. So, once again Barça found a Christmas gift in Sinkgraven’s push that Gündogan did not waste. González Fuertes signaled the maximum penalty and Xavi’s team left Las Palmas alive, although with the new year it continues to be the same discreet Barça.
2024-01-04 22:35:46
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