CHAPTER 225: Recreativo Huelva (0) - Barcelona (2) [analysis]

Alternative Title: The 9th Win

Positives

• A win garnered 3 more points. Besides that, it is the 9th straight victory in La Liga, and it maintains Barcelona on top of the table for another week.
• The 1st goal was very good. A well strategically taken goal that involved brilliant team play and deception the opposition scrambling in the defence. With Xavi and Alves both running up to kick the ball, only for Xavi to side-pass the ball to Messi at the last minute in which then Messi run and scored the goal without being in an offside position! And it was a great strike form Messi as well.
• Seydou Keita gets his first goal for Barcelona. Eto’o might have attempted a difficult shot (or maybe it was an assist of a pass to the Malian), but what was important was that Keita was at the right place at the tight time.
• A positive point for the team, as they really pulled through in this game to get the win as they wrestled the victory from a tough rival that kept coming against Barcelona with what they can muster. Huelva really had shown they had the stamina throughout the 90 minutes to play against Barcelona even though Barcelona had the usual domination of the passing and ball control at times more than Huelva themselves.
• Thierry Henry has once again become instrumental for a Barcelona goal. The goal of Keita came after Henry received a cross and headed it to an open Eto’o, which in turn the Cameroonian then passed to Keita in which he scored the eventual goal. The setup of Henry’s work for this goal is similar to his assist of Xavi’s goal against Malaga, where he headed the ball to his teammate. Seems that the Frenchman is using his height and heading to manipulate the buildup of a team goal.

Negatives

• The yellow cards of Eto’o and Daniel Alves. I think that Eto’o could have conducted better in controlling his emotion after clashing with Huelva’s keeper, he could have avoided it.
• Daniel Alves had a frustrating battle wit Sisi, especially in the first half. It was unduly and probable that he ended up with the yellow card.
• Not many chances were made during the first half of the game. Barcelona pressed the game but without much significant opportunities made or taken.
• There was a ‘What The Fu-k’ moment at about the 35th minute when Yaya Toure screwed up as he passed back the ball to the back of midfield only for the opposition to intercept the ball then rushed through with a counter attack. It ended up as a corner for Recreativo Huelva and although they did not score, it was a chance taken by them.
• After that 35th minute corner from the rival, Messi made a dashing run towards the other side, ended up passing to Henry, where unfortunately Henry made a weak shot straight into the keeper’s position (into the keeper).
• During the 2nd half, there were scary moments where the opposition themselves had some shots hit Barcelona’s woodwork and posts. Besides that, there was a mis pass from Xavi at about the 90th minute of the game that resulted in a counter from Huelva and there was chaos in the Barcelona penalty area.

Other points to make…..

With both Madrid and Valencia losing the day earlier, Villareal’s draw against Malaga (coupled with Barcelona’s latest victory) brings further positives outings and outcomes for Barça.
Madrid and Valencia are now 5 points adrift, but the Yellow Submarines’s latest disappointment brings Barcelona 3 points ahead. And considering that next week Villareal will be playing against Valencia, there’s a big chance that either one of these two close contenders will be dropping further points, all the better for Barcelona. Of course with the exception that Barcelona keeps on winning of course.