Barcelona responded to Lionel Messi’s absence and put the disappointment of the defeat to Hercules in their last home game behind them with a slender 1-0 victory over Sporting Gijon thanks to David Villa.
Barca lacked the usual punch in the first half, but it didn’t take them long to test Ivan Cuellar when Villa ran onto Andres Iniesta’s through ball but from a tight angle, El Guaje’s shot was kept out by the Sporting goalkeeper.
Iniesta then had a golden chance of his own on ten minutes when he brought down Gaby Milito’s long ball, but his half volley not to dissimilar to his World Cup winner was foiled by the sharp reflexes of Cuellar.
It quickly became a case of every men behind the ball for Sporting after that as they tried to emulate Hercules’ strategy. Without Messi in the side, Barca indeed found it difficult to draw out defenders and create clear cut chances, and they never had the same devastating tempo in the attacking third of the pitch.
Bojan had an opportunity to stamp his mark when he ran half the length of the pitch on a counter attack, but failed to apply the finish as he soon became outnumbered.
Villa then spurned another great opening when he was put through by Maxwell on 32 minutes, but despite being given time and space to shoot, the Gijon native dragged his effort wide.
Valdes had to be called into action for the first time after 40 minutes when he dashed well off his line to clear a loose ball before Diego Barral could pounce on it. Barca responded quickly with Iniesta and Seydou Keita trying their luck from distance, but the Catalans’ best chance to break the deadlock came a minute before the break when another sumptuous Iniesta through ball found Villa, who could only smack his shot into the side netting.
With Barcelona still without a goal at the Camp Nou in La Liga after 135 minutes of football, coach Pep Guardiola made a double change at the break, sending in Pedro and Gerard Pique. Within a minute of the restart, Iniesta tested Cuellar with a shot on the edge of the box, but the custodian saved comfortably.
But on 49 minutes, the impasse was finally broken and Barca had their first league goal at home. Villa latched onto Dani Alves’ through ball and pummelled a fierce drive past Cuellar into the far corner, before wheeling away in a subdued celebration against his old club.
Sporting began to come out of their shells after going behind and but they didn’t have the firepower to trouble the Blaugrana rearguard. The Catalan themselves, however, were unable to build on their lead as they struggled to create any further decent scoring chances until five minutes from time.
A typically fluent Barca passing move found Villa on the edge of the box, and the striker turned his marker and dinked a clever chip over the out-of-position Cuellar, but his audacious effort sailed over the bar. Moments later, Iniesta’s shot bobbled just wide after taking a deflection off Botia having left Cuellar stranded again.
The Asturians ensured a nervy finish for the Blaugrana when they poured forward in numbers. But Victor Valdes was hardly troubled as the Catalans held on for the three points to move temporarily up to third in the table.
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