After Real and city rivals Atletico Madrid had played out a 2-2 draw earlier in the day, Sundays late contest afforded Barcelona the chance to get right back in the title mix after their costly defeat at Real Sociedad last weekend. Alexis Sanchez set the hosts on their way in the 10th minute before a superb Lionel Messi free-kick made it 2-0 inside 25 minutes. A moments sloppiness in the Barca backline allowed Angel Trujillo to pull one back for Almeria and at 2-1 Barca endured more than one or two nervy moments as the visitors probed for a leveller. It took until the 83rd minute for Barcelona to finally put the contest to bed, Carles Puyol following up with a smart finish after Messis header had come back off the bar, while there was still time for Xavi to inflate the scoreline further with a sumptuous fourth. The hosts looked threatening from kick-off, with Dani Alves in particular proving a nuisance with a couple of dangerous forays into the Almeria box. Gerardo Martinos men soon turned their early threat into the opener when Neymar picked out Cesc Fabregas in the area, the former Arsenal man shifting the ball inside and firing in a low drive that Esteban could only parry, allowing Sanchez a simple finish. Barca maintain their stranglehold on the match without seriously threatening the Almeria goal a second time, but that changed in the 24th minute when Corona brought down Messi 25 yards from goal.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Mar 2014 06:37:22 +0000