Xerez 0-2 Barcelona

The champions were by no means at their best but were still good enough to beat La Liga's bottom side

Barcelona were far from brilliant as they secured a hard fought win away to lowly Xerez to go five points clear at the top of the table.

The champions were made to sweat for the win as a late, late goal from substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic guaranteed the full spoils after Thierry Henry had given them a second half lead.

Following the victory over Real Madrid in El Clasico coach Pep Guardiola opted to rest a number of first team players with captain Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta and strike pairing Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all rested.

The champions looked a little sluggish on a difficult playing surface in what was their fourth game in just eleven days since the international break and the decision to rest some key players certainly appeared warranted.

Another opponent may have taken full advantage of the lacklustre display from the champions but Xerez have scored just four times this season and it showed tonight as the hosts failed to stretch Barca stopper Victor Valdes.

Despite not being at full tilt the Catalan giants still showed flashes of brilliance with Daniel Alves and Xavi producing some exquisitely accurate passes which deserved better quality in the final third.

That incident seemed to spark life into the game and the Andalusians certainly didn't appear fearful of the champions and had claims for a penalty waved away by referee Carlos Velasco Carballo shortly after the half hour mark. Carlos Calvo tumbled after a challenge from Dmytro Chygrynskiy but despite protests from the partisan home support and Xerez coach Cuco Ziganda the penalty was not given.

The home side continued to press and Victor Sanchez was inches away from embarrassing Valdes with a late dart to the back post but he failed to reach Fabian Orellana's dangerous inswinging cross as Valdes waved it wide.

Yaya Toure and Chygrynskiy had half chances for the champions and Alex Bergantinos hit an effort from distance straight at Valdes but scoreless it remained at the interval.

The breakthrough came immediately after the restart as Maxwell provided Henry with the simplest of opportunities for just his second goal of the season. The Brazilian full back latched onto Seydou Keita's perfectly weighted through ball before lofting an excellent cross into the box and the French striker couldn't miss from close range.

Minutes later Calvo hit the ground again in the Barca penalty box, this time under a challenge from Rafael Marquez but Caballo again waved away appeals for a penalty.

Then Guardiola made a change introducing newly crowned Ballon d'Or for 2009, Lionel Messi in place of Pedro. Surprisingly though, the best chance of the game came at the opposite end with Mario Bermejo hand Orellana a great opportunity inside the Barca box but he took his eye off the ball at the vital moment and Valdes' goal remained in tact.

Ibrahimovic soon followed Messi off the bench, replacing Bojan Krkic with Guardiola obviously keen to secure a vital two goal cushion.

Messi soon got into his rhythm, demonstrating some exemplary touches to keep the plucky hosts on the back foot. On a handful of occasions the Argentine wizard was on hand to run at the heart of the Andalusian sides defence and take the pressure off the Barca backline.

They had to weather some pressure from a battling Xerez but with Andres Iniesta on for goalscorer Henry in the final five minutes Barca upped the ante and piled the pressure on Renan's goal in the final stages.

First Messi thumped a fine drive off the post from a tight angle, before Iniesta somehow missed from about three yards, hitting the side netting from Ibrahimovic's low cross.

The Swede eventually bagged the insurance goal late in second half stoppage time to make sure of all three points for the champions. Ibra ran onto Messi's clever through ball before lofting a delightful chip over the advancing Renan to make it 2-0 to the champions.

Although the performance was below par, winning without shining is a trademark of true champions and Barca have delivered in typically clinical style tonight.

This victory leaves Barcelona five points clear at the top of the Primera Liga while Xerez's struggle in their first season in top flight football continues.