La Liga - Bojan brace hands Barca win

Eurosport - Mon, 16 Mar 09:46:00 2009

A quick-fire second-half brace from Bojan Krkic gave Barcelona a 2-0 win at Almeria that extended their lead at the top of La Liga to six points.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 La Liga Barcelona Almería-Barcelona Bojan - 0

The 18-year-old Spain striker was handed a rare start with Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry on the bench and he did not disappoint, finishing off delightful passing moves for his first league goals of the season.

Until the diminutive Catalan's 53rd-minute opener, Almeria had frustrated their visitors with goalkeeper Diego Alves in fine form.

The Brazilian shot-stopper made brilliant first-half saves from Seydou Keita, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi, and one incredible stop from a Gerard Pique header that was so powerful Alves ended up flying backwards into the goal while the ball spun to safety.

The hosts, meanwhile, were not only on the back foot and tiny winger Albert Crusat should have given them the lead when he raced clear from halfway only to panic and lob well over as Victor Valdes raced to the edge of his penalty area.

Barca took the lead seven minutes into the second half after a hypnotic spell of passing culminated in Messi rifling a shot off the post and into the path of Bojan, who slid the ball into the unguarded net with keeper Alves stranded.

He doubled the lead just over two minutes later after a quite spectacular piece of build-up play that included a give-and-go started by Daniel Alves that went via a flying flick from Iniesta and an audacious backheel by Messi, with Alves running on to the latter to set up Bojan for a deflected finish.

The finish was fortuitous but the prologue spectacular. There was little left for either side to say afterwards as the match fizzled out into a training-ground exercise that saw Alexander Hleb and Eidur Gudjohnsen given a chance to stretch their legs.

The win puts Barca on 66 points, with second-placed Real Madrid on 60, but with 11 games remaining - including a Clasico at the Bernabeu - Los Merengues still have everything to play for.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

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  1. bojan has a parent from serbia and a parent from spain.­ he lives in spain and he has a spanish passport... he­ is spaniard

    From Varnavas P, on Mon 16 Mar 6:08PM

  2. I must say that Bojan is the best under-20 striker in­ the world followed by Balotelli, Higuain and Giovinco.­ his finishing is class and he knows how to move off the­ ball wicked player.

    From theotobi, on Mon 16 Mar 2:09PM

  3. correction abbys84

    From dragan_9, on Mon 16 Mar 10:24AM

  4. correction stephen.berry16...he's croatian but not­ that i care! VISCA ELBARCA that was a­ masterclass...can't wait for the ECL draw this­ friday

    From Abby, on Mon 16 Mar 10:15AM

  5. he's serbian

    From dragan_9, on Mon 16 Mar 10:14AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Also, as far as I know Bojan is Bulgarian. Not a­ Catalan and not Spanish.

    From stephen.berry16, on Mon 16 Mar 9:50AM

  7. okay with all said and done,. we are still at the top­ and in contention for a treble,
    im however not glad­ that liverpool is topping the european power ranking.­ and that zidane reckons that gerrard is
    a better player­ than Messi!!! with all due respect zizou, messi will­ prove you wrong just like he did to maradona and­ crypff*

    From Phobia, on Mon 16 Mar 9:38AM

  8. Get your act together Reda Maher, it's not the­ first time you mess up simple facts!!!

    From BiggR, on Mon 16 Mar 7:36AM

  9. mampoih la real....season ni barca punya...muahahahaha

    From 'Ammar Anuar, on Mon 16 Mar 6:03AM

  10. Also the pic is from last season. That jersey is old.

    From aneeq_casual, on Mon 16 Mar 3:56AM

  11. It's 6 points not 7. Also it's Seydou Keita NOT­ Kader!

    From aneeq_casual, on Mon 16 Mar 3:54AM

  12. Bien, Bojan, bien !!!!!

    From enachon, on Mon 16 Mar 1:46AM

  13. Second goal.. Magic!

    From TT, on Sun 15 Mar 11:58PM

  14. the second goal is for an oscar! incredible! the finish­ was not that good but what a passing game! spectacular!

    From Varnavas P, on Sun 15 Mar 10:17PM

  15. Erm yea, it's only 6 points, not 7. The mistakes­ are minor but it's happened too many times..

    From Bob, on Sun 15 Mar 10:14PM

  16. I am a Barca fan...but Barca have 66 points, which­ gives us 6 points advance over Madrid

    From Lyubomir L, on Sun 15 Mar 10:09PM
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