Bright start for 2008 as Barca overpower hosts Mallorca to close gap on Real Madrid.


Match Report: Saturday 05/01/2008 20:00 hours, La Liga, Match Day 18

RCD MALLORCA - FC BARCELONA 0-2 ( 0-0 )
Stadium: ONO Estadi (Son Moix), Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Capacity :
Referee: Ramírez Domínguez


Goals:


0-1 Marquez ( 63' )


0-2 Eto'o ( 90' + 2' )


Cautions:

Yellow Card :


FC Barcelona - Giovani ( 10' ), Toure Yaya ( 60' ), Puyol ( 86' )


Mallorca - Trejo ( 83' )



Possession:

FC Barcelona - 61%
Mallorca - 39%


Corner Kicks:

FC Barcelona 5
Mallorca 2


Shots on Goal ( On Target ):

FC Barcelona 15 ( 4 )
Mallorca 10 ( 2 )


Line-up:


FC Barcelona : Valdes, Puyol, Marquez, Milito, Abidal, Toure Yaya ( Edmilson, 68' ), Xavi, Gudjohnsen ( Bojan, 46' ), Iniesta, Giovani ( Henry, 63' ), Eto'o

Manager : Frank Rijkaard


RCD Mallorca : Lux, Navarro, Varela, Basinas ( Trejo, 71' ), Pereyra, Arango, Ibagaza ( Borja, 71' ), Jonas, Guiza ( Victor, 48' )
Manager: Gregorio Manzano


Match Report:


FC Barcelona came back into reckoning with a well deserved 2-0 away victory over Mallorca. Eto'o capped up his brilliant return with a back breaker of a goal against his former team.


The match commenced amid clear knowledge by the Blaugrana that they needed to win the match to stay in contention for the La Liga, but that thought did not put any tension on the experienced Catalans. An early scare however made Barca step up their game, after Mallorca's top scorer Guiza fired a shot that missed target in the 9th minute. Iniesta quickly responded with an attack in the 14th minute which Keeper Lux did well to save. In the 22nd minute, the hosts made to jerk Valdes when Basinas footed a low drive that narrowed away from target.Mallorca returned in the 28th minute through Arango to try Barca keper Valdes, and the keeper wasn't found wanting.


It was then a series of close misses from Barca until the first half ended, when three chances that should have put the Blaugrana up were missed. Marquez showed signs of what was to come with a 36th minute header that didn't locate target, while Xavi's freekick flew above the crossbar before Iniesta's distant effort failed to make hay.

The second half was more productive. Bojan Krkic came in to replace Gudjohnsen and the young teen aded great pace to the Barca attack. In response, Mallorca became more daring and nearly took the lead just past the hour mark when the visitors' defence had trouble dealing with a Jonas Gutierrez effort. This was the tonic Barca needed as the Catalans launched an attack that forced a corner from Iniesta's effort. Xavi swooped the corner to a lurking Marquez who made no mistake this time, nodding on target. FC Barcelona had gone 1-0 up in the 63rd minute.


Spurred on by the effect of the substitution, Coach Rijkaard brough on returning French super star, Thierry Henry who immediatelt stepped up the atack further and scored after just ten minutes of coming on the pitch. His great effort was hoever ruled out by the Referee. Unpertubed, Henry stroked a trademark effort after outwiting three Mallorca defenders, only for the powerful curl to be parried away by an overstretched Mallorca keeper Lux.


In injury time, Henry finally made his point, when two minutes into injury time, the Frenchman received a ball off a wizadry effort from Bojan Krkic. Thierry tapped the ball onto the path of danger man Eto'o who slammed in the ball for the second and final goal of the match. The deed was done.


My Comments :


As we rightly predicted before the match, it was 2-0 to Barca. Yeah, we saw it coming ! A good showing by Barca, and an impressive return from Thierry Henry. The Frenchman can not only score, but always renders invaluable assists. He's been sorely missed. Eto'o proved he's stil as hot as ever. He just can't stop scoring, can he? Bojan has some magic with him. He always steps up the entire game whenever he comes in, and Barca always scores after he's introduced. This is one teenager that is already ruling the world!


Through out this new year, Barca must maintain a 100% record both at home and away, cos only the Blaugrana can attain such a feat in the La Liga if only they play to their full potential. Real madrid will always slip up, just like Villareal has done, falling 3-0 to Espanyol on same night Barca thrashed Mallorca.