BARCELONA (REUTERS) - Barcelona closed in on the La Liga title after beating 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday's (April 6) top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp as late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
Atletico began brightly but their gameplan went out of the window when Diego Costa was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for a verbal tirade at referee Jesus Gil Manzano.
Atletico produced a gutsy second-half display, expertly shackling Barca, but the Catalans finally found a way past the visitors' outstanding goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a superb curling shot from Suarez in the 85th minute.
Moments later Messi sealed victory and quite probably the league title with an irresistibly cool finish into the net and Barca's fans jubilantly chanted "champions", crowing at their surely unassailable lead at the top with seven games remaining.
Atletico realistically needed to win at the Nou Camp for the first time since 2006 to stay in the title race and they played with ambition and intelligence in the opening stages, keeping the ball for long periods and depriving Barca of space.
But they were rocked by Costa's moment of madness which killed their early momentum and left them with little choice but to defend for the remaining hour of the game.
Striker Costa reacted angrily to not being awarded a foul after being tackled by Jordi Alba and gave a long verbal response to the referee, who to his disbelief pulled out a red card.
Costa had to be shepherded off the pitch by Barca's Gerard Pique as he struggled to control his temper while his team mates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez earned bookings for venting their anger over the decision.
Atletico coped superbly with the setback and numerical disadvantage, controlling the space for the majority of the game.
Messi still carved his way through the middle of the pitch on two occasions, creating openings for Suarez and himself but both South American forwards were thwarted by the titanic presence of Oblak.
Atletico naturally had limited opportunities down the other end but were not far from finding a goal when Antoine Griezmann picked out Rodrigo from a free kick but the midfielder headed over the bar when Gimenez was stood behind him, in a better position.
Diego Simeone's side could not last the distance, however, and as their legs inevitably tired, Barca's attacking quality made the difference.
Football: Hougang United lose two-goal lead twice to draw 3-3 with 10-man Tampines Rovers Published by: straitstimes.com | Found: 49 minutes ago Tags: Football, Tampines, Hougang, Rovers, United and 218 more Tweeted By: @stsportsdesk , @stcom Tweeted For: @@jpbutler_msm, @@ks75in
Tampines throw away two-goal advantage, Latest Singapore
New-look Germany make promising start with Serbia draw The Germans, knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage and relegated in the Nations League last year, had only one player from their 2014 World Cup victory in the starting line-up and their oldest outfield player was aged 24.
Soccer: New-look Germany make promising start with Serbia
Mr Mohamad Akbar Bin Abdul Nawas is an experienced local football coach who recently led Indian professional football team Chennai City Football Club to become 1 st-time champion of Hero I-League (Indian top professional football division). Prior to that, he had accumulated head coach experience both locally (e.g. with Tampines Rovers FC) and
Football; FFA Cup; Asian Champions League perfect start via a stunning 5-0 statement win over perennial Cup easy beats Saudi Arabia. first man in history to net in a World Cup opener after
Saudi Arabia Look for Return to Asian Power Status - News18
Lacazette double helps Arsenal beat Valencia 3-1 | Free
Liverpool laying groundwork for sustained success, says Klopp
Soccer: Hojbjerg strike gives Southampton 1-0 win at Brighton
Rebecca Lowe and The 2 Robbies discuss the historic context of the Man United's transformation under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and how he has been able to Man United's turnaround under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is remarkable | NBC Sports
Man United's thrilling 4-3-3 formation under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ikhsan gets off mark in Norway, Football News & Top Stories
Stags coach Kadir urges better focus after last-gasp goals. Apr 18, 2019, 5:00 am 2019, 5:00 am. Football: Tampines Rovers score two last-gasp goals to see off Cambodia's Nagaworld FC 4-2 in
An increase in SPL local coaches, but Kadir Yahaya urges for
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is relaxed about Mohamed Salah's goalscoring drought, saying the Egyptian forward remains a key part of the title chasers' attacking armoury.
Klopp relaxed about Salah's Liverpool drought - FootyNews.co.uk
Singapore Football needs a logo for their website, Twitter and the Facebook Fanpage. Send your logo in .jpg format to singaporeleague@live.com We will then use the winner logo and use it as the Singapore Football very own logo. But one bad news is that there will be no prizes given to the winner.
LONDON (AFP) - Brighton moved into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the second successive season as goals from Anthony Knockaert and Jurgen Locadia clinched a 2-1 win over Derby on Saturday (Feb 16)..
Brighton edge into FA Cup quarter-finals | Aaj News
LIVERPOOL (AFP) - Liverpool were left to regret two huge missed chances by Mohamed Salah as Everton held out for a 0-0 draw in the Merseyside derby on Sunday (March 3).. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Liverpool held at Everton to surrender top spot in Premier League
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen