Thierry Henry re-enters La Liga goal sheet by opening scores in Barca's 2-0 victory over Almeria.


Match Report: Sunday 28/10/2007 19:45 hrs (GMT +1), La Liga Match Day 9
FC BARCELONA - ALMERIA 2-0 ( 1-0 )


Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Capacity: 98,772
Attendance: 79,253

Referee: M.A. Ayza Gamez


Goals:
1-0 Henry ( 37' )

2-0 Messi ( 80'pen. )


Cautions:
Yellow Card :


FC Barcelona - Milito ( 6' ), Abidal ( 90' )


Almeria - Juanito ( 2' ), Acasiete ( 39' ), Bruno ( 80' )


Possession:

FC Barcelona 63%
Almeria 37%


Corner Kicks:

FC Barcelona 11
Almeria 0


Shots on Goal ( On Target ):

FC Barcelona 14 ( 6 )
Almeria 7 ( 3 )


Line-Up:

FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Abidal, Milito, Puyol ( Marquez, 46' ), Zambrotta, Giovani, Iniesta, Toure Yaya ( Gudjohnsen, 61' ), Xavi, Ronaldinho ( Messi, 74' ), Henry
Manager: Frank Rijkaard


Almeria(4-4-2): Cobeno, Acasiete, Bruno, Garcia, Juanito, Crusat, Mane ( Aitor, 74' ), Melo ( Corona, 63' ), Juanma Ortiz ( Jose Ortiz, 55' ) Soriano, Negredo

Manager: Unai Emrey


Match Report:
An expected victory for the Catalan giants was secured against Almeria, as Barca maintained a mid-tempo level of football to overcome their troublesome opponents who were eager to prove they could stand up against the big boys.


FC Barcelona were first to launch an attack, Yaya Toure, back in the side following a spell on the sidelines through injury, saw his shot deflected wide by Almeria's Acasiete on 12 minutes. Ronaldinho's shot was saved by Cobeno in the 16th minute, and Argentine defender Gabriel Milito headed wide from Xavi's corner on 21 minutes and Ronaldinho then beat this marker in the team's next attack only for his resultant cross to fly away. Ronaldinho returned with a cross-shot on 33 minutes, which left the confused Cobeno in Dilemma, making him save the ball with his feet instead of his hands.


Almeria then launched a quick counter-attack, but Carles Puyol slid in to deny Alvaro Negredo a shooting opportunity when the Almeria forward was bearing down on goal.


In the 37th minute, Giovani dos Santos raced down the flanked and delivered a cross which was parried by Almeria's keeper Cobeno, only for Thierry Henry to slot in the rebound and record FC Barcelona's first goal of the match, and his fourth goal in the La Liga. The first half ended with one goal advantage for Barca.


In the second half, the Catalan giants made their first substitution when Marquez made his return after injury to replace injured captain Carles Puyol. As if spurred by rock-solid Puyol's absence, Almeria came out as a more determined side in the second half, charging forward in their numbers but were quickly contained by Barca. FC Barcelona made two more changes in the half, with Gudjohnsen coming in for Toure Yaya and Lionel Messi replacing Ronaldinho. Messi brought his own style of magic into the game, causing problems for Almeria and showing them just why he is called the magician.


The combined attack from Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Giovanni dos Santos was too much for the defence of the visitors, and they had no option but to bring down rampaging Giovani in the 18 yard box for a penalty. Lionel Messi stepped up to artistically convert the 80th minute spot kick and record Barca's second goal for the evening.


Santos and Henry each took one last shot at the Almeria keeper, hoping to increase the tally to three goals, but were unlucky to have missed at the far post in each case.


The match ended after referee Ayza Gamez sounded his whistle, meaning that Barca had secured yet another victory at Camp, Nou, as widely expected before the match.


My Comments:

It was a modest match for FC Barcelona and a modest victory over struggling Almeria. Thierry Henry's opening goal and a second by Messi means that Barca are now second on the League table after Villarreal were mauled 4-1 by Zaragoza and Valencia were thrashed 3-0 by an inspired Sevilla side. Real Madrid were only lucky to have secured their equalizer through a penalty after going down 1-0 to Depro at the Bernabeu, before being rescued by late goals from Raul and again, Robinho at the dying minutes to maintain their top spot and two point advantage over Barca, at 22 points to Barca's 20 points.


The constant wins by both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona makes the forthcoming Christmas clash between the two teams an obvious decider, though it may still be too early to say, especially with an increasingly unreliable performance by Real Madrid.


Barca should consolidate on this victory when they play their next La Liga game away to Valladolid on the Thursday, 1st of November. Kick off time is 22:00 hours local time.