Sunday January 6, 2013 Day 18 Finished Camp Nou
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La Liga - Vilanova back to see Barca batter Espanyol in derby
Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova was on the bench after undergoing cancer surgery two weeks ago to watch his side crush Espanyol 4-0. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- FC Barcelona
- RCD Espanyol
90' FT Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol. Four first half goals maintains Barca's 12 point La Liga lead as Espanyol's unbeaten run comes to an end.- 89' Iniesta puts Messi through on goal, but Casilla is alert to the danger and comes out of his penalty area to make the clearance.
- 88' Alcantara falls down in a heap in the box. Shouts for a penalty but the referee isn't interested.
- 87' The corner comes to nothing but Barca maintain the attack through Sanchez, who touches the ball back to Iniesta, but the midfielder's shot is blocked.
- 86' Sanchez does well to force Barca's sixth corner of the match.
85' Alcantara is floored by Moreno, who is booked. That was a bad challenge, and Moreno can count himself lucky not to be dismissed. Both feet were off the ground. Rash.- 83' Alba's dangerous cross from the left is met by Moreno.
- 82' Messi hits the bar! The world player of the year strikes the top of the bar with a sperb dipping free-kick.
- 81' Barca fans go nuts as Villa puts the ball in the net but, rather than play the advantage, the referee pulls play back for an earlier foul. Poor refereeing.
- 80' Huge chance for Espanyol! Pique's back pass is far too short and Albin nips in and goes clean through, but Valdes comes out and makes a very good save. Huge chance.
- 79' Lovely through ball by Villa to find Sanchez, but the Chilean can't get a shot away and Espanyol clear.
78' Espanyol sub: Albin on, Simao off.- 76' Barca sub: Alexis Sanchez on, Pedro off.
- 74' Barca don't want to settle for 4-0, that is clear. Credit must go to Espanyol for tightening things up in the second half though.
- 73' Looked like the correct call this time.
- 72' Pedro has another goal disallowed. Alcantara picks out Alves on the right, Pedro steers in the Brazilian's first time cross - but Pedro is flagged offside.
- 70' Alba squeezes a low cross in from the left, but Casilla saves again at his near post.
- 69' Messi plays in Villa, who can't get the ball unstuck from under his feet as he stabs the ball towards the near post. Casilla makes the save.
- 68' Fabregas leaves to a standing ovation. The midfielder has put in a great shift tonight.
- 67' Barca sub: Villa on, Fabregas off.
- 66' Barca denied a sumptious fifth as the offside flag is incorrectly raised against Fabregas. Messi splits the Espanyol defence with a ridiculous through bal to Fabregas, who squares to Pedro, who puts the ball in the net. Fabregas is ON side, but the goal is chalked off.
- 65' Stunning football by Barca. Fabregas and Iniesta combine beautifully before play is switched to Alves, but his cross towards Messi is plucked from the night sky by Casilla.
- 64' Barca sub: Alcantara on, Xavi off.
- 63' Xavi spots Pedro's run and Pedro lifts the ball onto the roof of the net - but the flag is up.
- 61' Fabregas tries to pick out Alves's run, but Simao gets back well to chest the ball back to Casilla.
- 60' Espanyol sub: Alfonso on, Baena off.
- 59' Barca turn up the pressure again with another corner, but Espanyol desperately clear their lines.
- 58' Espanyol giving Barca less time on the ball. Alves and Alba's influence has been noticeably reduced in the second half.
- 57' Pique dribbles his way out of his own box, before going down in a heap. Espanyol protest the awarding of the free-kick, which appears soft. Pique lucky.
- 56' Pedro charges down a back pass and Casilla blasts the ball straight into the Barca striker. The ball cannons back off the keeper for a Barca corner. Moment to forget for Casilla.
- 55' Xavi lofts a beautiful free-kick towards Fabregas at the far post, but Fabregas produces an air kick. Always embarrassing.
- 54' Baena gets his name in the book this time, for a foul on Iniesta.
- 53' Fabregas and Baena in a dspute. Baena feels the former Arsenal captain went down too easily.
- 51' Espanyol are playing a more intelligent game in the second half. The visitors working harder to close Barca down quickly.
- 49' Fabregas clips a good ball wide to Alves, but the Brazilian is crowded out.
- 48' Iniesta slides a pass through to Jordi Alba, but Casilla is quick off his line to gather.
- 47' Opening for Espanyol as Verdu finds Sergio Garcia, but striker's pass wide to the left is read by Dani Zlves, who cuts it out.
46' We are back underway at Camp Nou.- 45' HT Barcelona 4-0 Espanyol.
- 44' Busquets can't stop the ball from going out as Verdu forces a corner.
- 43' Espanyol enjoying their best spell of the game, but Barca do not look concerned. Espanyol happy to just see some of the ball.
- 41' Iniesta's shot deflects off Moreno for a Barca corner.
- 39' Barca seem to be happy with just the four goals for now. They are stroking the ball around midfield at the moment.
- 37' Verdu hoists a ball over the Barca defence towards Simao, but Valdes is alert to the danger and gathers.
- 36' Fabregas pings a long ball forward to Pedro, but the ball skips off the surface and away from the striker.
- 34' Barca hungry for that fifth goal. It's wave after wave of attacks at the moment, with Iniesta, Fabregas and Xavi pulling the strings.
- 32' It's worth mentioning that Barca's biggest ever win over Espanyol is 5-0. Seems as though they're on their way to breaking that record too.
- 31' Espanyol look absolutely shellshocked. They don't know what's hit them.
29' GOAL! Messi nonchalantly sends Casilla the wrong way to make it 4-0...
28' Penalty to Barca! Fabregas is tripped by Casilla and Messi is stepping up...- 27' GOAL! Pedro makes it three! Busquets plays in Pedro with a sumptious through ball, and Pedro lifts it over Casilla with a silky first-time finish. Another stunning goal. 3-0.
- 25' Espanyol looking long for Sergio Garcia every time they get the ball now.
- 23' Glaring miss by Sergio Garcia, who is put clean through by Casilla's long punt - but he blazes wildly over the bar. Had to be 2-1...
- 21' Messi is hauled down by Baena, who is lucky not to go into the book.
- 20' Barca playing with such a swagger. Fabregas, Iniesta and Xavi have taken this game by the horns.
- 19' This performance is the perfect tonic for coach Tito Vilanova, who is back in the dugout for Barcelona.
- 17' Barca have been relentless so far. Espanyol are pinned inside their own half.
- 15' GOAL! Barca have a second and it's another beautiful goal. Fabregas shows great skill to create the crossing opportunity from the left, then shows the awareness to pick out Pedro, who slots the ball into the bottom corner from close-range. 2-0, and this could be a rout...
- 14' That goal means Barcelona have equalled the La Liga record by scoring in 36 matches in a row, set by themselves in 1942-1944.
- 13' Almost a fabulous second for Barca as Messi finds Fabregas, who turns brilliantly and finds Iniesta, but Casilla comes out well to make the save.
- 12' Espanyol just can't get into this, such is Barca's dominance in the opening stages.
- 10' GOAL! Xavi opens the scoring for Barcelona! A beautifully worked goal as Barca work the ball from right to left to find Iniesta in space. Iniesta plays a low cross into Xavi, who kisses the ball into the bottom corner. Vintage Barca.
- 9' Iniesta has been heavily involved in the early exchanges. Espanyol struggling to see any of the ball.
- 8' Great play by Iniesta again as he waltzes into the box, but his low cross evades Messi and Pedro.
- 7' Silky flick by Iniesta to play in Jordi Alba, but the left-back can't squeeze in a cross.
- 6' Fabregas spreads play wide to Alves on the right, but the Brazilian's cross is disappointing.
- 5' Messi drives forward but he can't quite thread his pass through a crowd of bodies to Iniesta.
- 4' Barcelona have won 60 of the 78 home matches vs Espanyol in La Liga (losing 9) and have outscored their rivals 187-70.
- 3' Fabregas is played into the box, but he can't quite keep the ball in play before cutting it back.
- 2' Dominant start by Barca, who are taking the game to their opponents in the opening stages. Espanyol are unbeaten in their last four.
1' KICK OFF. We are underway at Camp Nou.- 17.55 BARCELONA: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Jordi Alba; Sergio, Fabregas, Xavi; Iniesta, Messi, Pedro. Subs: Pinto, Mascherano, Villa, Song, Sanchez, Montoya, Thiago. ESPANYOL: Casilla, J.Lopez, Colotto, Moreno, Capdevila, V.Sanchez, Forlin, Baena, Verdu, Simao, Sergio Garcia. Subs: German, Rodriguez, Stuani, Albin, Gomez, Alfonso, Alvaro.
- 17.50 Hello everyone. Welcome to live text commentary of this Liga clash between Barcelona and Espanyol.
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Summary
- 29' GOAL! Messi nonchalantly sends Casilla the wrong way to make it 4-0...
- 28' Penalty to Barca! Fabregas is tripped by Casilla and Messi is stepping up...
- 27' GOAL! Pedro makes it three! Busquets plays in Pedro with a sumptious through ball, and Pedro lifts it over Casilla with a silky first-time finish. Another stunning goal. 3-0.
- 15' GOAL! Barca have a second and it's another beautiful goal. Fabregas shows great skill to create the crossing opportunity from the left, then shows the awareness to pick out Pedro, who slots the ball into the bottom corner from close-range. 2-0, and this could be a rout...
- 10' GOAL! Xavi opens the scoring for Barcelona! A beautifully worked goal as Barca work the ball from right to left to find Iniesta in space. Iniesta plays a low cross into Xavi, who kisses the ball into the bottom corner. Vintage Barca.
Team Line-up & Ratings
FC BarcelonaManager: Tito Vilanova
RCD EspanyolManager: Javier Aguirre
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Line-up
Live Team Line-Up
Starting line-up
- Víctor Valdés
- Dani Alves
- G. Piqué
- C. Puyol
- J. Alba
- S. Busquets
- Xavi
- A. Iniesta
- Pedro ×2
- C. Fàbregas
- L. Messi
Subs
- J. Pinto
- J. Mascherano
- D. Villa
66′ - A. Sánchez 75′
- Thiago 63′
- A. Song
- M. Montoya
Starting line-up
- K. Casilla
- J. López
- D. Colotto
- H. Moreno
- J. Capdevila
- R. Baena
- J. Forlín
- V. Sánchez
- J. Verdú
- Simão
- Sergio Garciá
Subs
- J. Albin 77′
- C. Stuani 63′
- R. Rodríguez
- V. Álvarez
- C. Alfonso 60′
- C. Gómez
- G. Parreno
- K. Casilla
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Rate Players
@ Marian - Gabriel, Laliga has better players but competitiveness of the league is non existent. It is always expected Barcelona will win the game and it is only a matter of how many they will score. Whereas in EPL if Man Utd are thrashing Arsenal then Wigan is also beating Man Utd, Sunderland beating Man City or Chelsea losing to QPR but that doesn't happen in Laliga anymore.
This would be a sweet gift for Tito
Visca EL BARCA,simply the best football club in the whole weird World !
chuck ..descent life and descent job..how about you talking about mesi cannot play outside la liga..sergio and,tevez and silva a size of mesi can score in epl..yo'ure the one who saying that because you're a hater, they can't afford to buy messi chuck idiot..by the way if i am messi i will not move he earned millions and his in the best team in the world..you're very talented enough player can play in barcelona ..idiot
Chelsht fan are so happy,ask how much the russian buy that champions,you can even beat Atletico or Corinthia you patetic hahaha
viva perdo!!!!!
CHELSH*T the m@fia ruski club should be banned for life, shows what happens when a russian gangster takes over a football club and the captain of the club is a r@cist for fcks sake.
Chelski are a disgrace to the beautiful gamer itself and chelsh.t won by pure luck against BARCA.
skie. You are full of bull. Classic counter attacking football is not parking the bus! And you didn't answer my question about the disgrace that was the semi final a few years ago. I take it you have no answer then.....mug.
Unstoppable in first half and they should been won 7-0 in second half
Barca was absolutely sublime!!!!
gareth! hahaha..bye bye for now wasting my time in you..
park the bus..and simple counter attack..thats the way chelsea score..hit and run scoring goals...iif messi hit the bar when taking the pk against chelsea thats whatvwe called lucky chelsea..end of topic gareth
Just say Thiago.
Ivan. How does scoring more goals than Barca = parking the bus you plum?!
