Photo Gallery : Ibrahimovic, Filipe Luis, Deportivo La Coruña, Barcelona (MARCA)
La Liga - Fixtures/Results
Two sensational goals from Lionel Messi, and one from Zlatan Ibrahimovic were enough to ensure that Barcelona won a tricky fixture away at Deportivo La Coruna.
Barcelona went into the game with a poor recent record at the Riazor, and Pep Guardiola was taking no chances, putting out his strongest possible lineup, as did Depor.
The game started in lively fashion, with Barca dominating possession as expected, but Depor exhibiting their danger on the counter. Chances remained at a premium during the early stages though, with only a volley from Messi and an Ibrahimovic header coming close.
Barca continued to boss the play, and Messi was in thick of it, jinking past about four defenders on 20 minutes, before seeing his shot well saved by Daniel Aranzubia. 'La Pulga' was the most threatening player on the park, and it was no surprise when he got on the scoresheet on 26 minutes. Receiving the ball from Daniel Alves on the edge of the box, he turned brilliantly before firing an unstoppable shot into the bottom right hand corner, to give Barca the lead.
The Blaugrana showed no signs of letting up after scoring, and Depor were struggling to touch the ball at all. Messi was causing havoc, and Ibrahimovic should have done better when played through by the Argentine, but he failed to take it around Aranzubia. Then, on 38 minutes, completely against the run of play, Depor claimed an equalizer. Aranzubia's goal kick was headed into Adrian's path by Sergi Busquets, and the striker in turn headed past Valdes, much to the shock of Pep Guardiola. Valdes could certainly have done more to stop it, and it was a careless mistake from Barca that ruined all their earlier good work.
There was still time for one more chance in the first half, when Ibrahimovic's brilliant backheel released Messi, only for Aranzubia to come to the rescue once more and palm his shot away. That was the last major action of an exciting first half that provided plenty of positives, and some negatives, for both sides.
The second half started in familiar fashion to the first, with Barca controlling all the play, but still looking susceptible to the counter. For all their possession, however, the Blaugrana were not creating the same amount of chances as they were in the first, as fatigue from an eventful journey to A Coruna perhaps began to show.
On the hour mark, Miguel Angel Lotina made the first change of the match, taking Adrian off for Juca. For the first time, both sides were getting sloppy, with a number of misplaced passes preventing any serious threats at goal. In an effort to change that, Guardiola replaced Thierry Henry with Pedro, as the clock struck 70 minutes.
Depor continued to frustrate Barca as the match wore down, with Messi providing the only direct threat with his trademark dribbling. It looked as though the Blaugrana would struggle to find another goal, but then, with ten minutes remaining, the Ballon D'Or winner showed just why he won the award. Pedro did well to chip the ball into his path near the six yard box, and Messi showed another string to his bow, as he headed past Aranzubia into the bottom corner.
Depor continued to fight valiantly after going behind, but Barca still looked the more likely to score, with Messi coming close again with another header. However, with four minutes left, the home side wasted a glorious chance to equalize, as Guardado's square ball failed to find Bodipo, who would only have had Valdes to beat.
It was to be a costly miss, as Barca scored their third seconds later, to seal the victory. On a rare foray forward, Eric Abidal played an excellent ball into the box, where Ibrahimovic was waiting to smash home a sublime first time effort into the roof of the net.
That proved to be the final action of the match, as Barca claimed a hard-fought but well deserved win, to maintain their five point lead on top of the table.
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