Barcelona took 83 minutes to break down a stubborn and resilient Real Madrid side in the Camp Nou on Saturday evening, despite having a penalty in the second-half.
The Catalan side were undoubtedly the more dominant of the two teams but they didn't create too many clear cut chances and Iker Casillas looked like he was going to be the hero as he saved a spot-kick from Samuel Eto'o with twenty minutes left.
However, the Cameroon international scored the opener with just seven minutes remaining, after Carles Puyol lept highest for a corner and nodded it to Eto'o just two yards out to poke in with his thigh.
Lionel Messi then put the icing on the cake as he latched onto a pass from Thierry Henry in injury time to beat Casillas on the counter-attack.
The goals sent the Camp Nou into raptures but even though Madrid were defeated there was no sign of the humiliating scorelines talked about in the build up.
The result still means that Barcelona extend their lead at the top of the table to nine points over Villarreal though and move a massive twelve clear of Real Madrid.
In a high quality and fast paced first-half the best chance actually fell to Real Madrid, despite the fact that they had been outplayed for the most part, and Royston Drenthe was the guilty party as he missed a clear one-on-one chance with Victor Valdés, after being played through in acres of space.
Barcelona failed to create much and the best opportunities they had fell to Lionel Messi, who when he wasn't getting kicked off the ball, tested Iker Casillas with a couple of decent shots.
The second-half was much the same story but Barcelona were gifted a chance to take the lead with just twenty minutes left as Michel Salgado bought down Sergio Busquets inside the box. Casillas pulled off a brilliant save to deny Eto'o though and was again the hero minutes later as he saved from distance this time.
Eto'o had the last laugh though as, in typical poacher style, he pounced from two yards to tap home a Puyol header from a corner late in the game, and then Messi rounded the night off with a lovely chipped finish over Casillas in injury time.
Swift Start
The big surprise before the match was that Juande Ramos opted to start Wesley Sneijder in midfield, who has been recovering from injury this week, and also started Sergio Ramos at left-back. Due to their other injury worries the visitors also began with three reserve team players on the bench, whilst Barcelona played with their normal 4-3-3 formation from the off.
As was expected the game started at quite a pace too, with Lionel Messi the centre of attention, first as he was chopped down in midfield and then as he drilled a shot at goal that Iker Casillas saved well, after some lovely skill on the right wing from the Argentine. Barcelona looked the more dominant of the two sides and only thanks to a great last ditch tackle by Fabio Cannavaro did they not go ahead after five minutes when Messi combined with Samuel Eto'o in the box, only to see his close range shot blocked.
The Real Madrid tactics were obvious from the outset, with the men in white taking it in turns to kick Messi, much to the frustration of Pep Guardiola and the Camp Nou crowd. The away side struggled to get out of their half in the early stages of the game as they looked more than happy to hit Barça on the counter-attack.
Indeed, it took until the 23rd minute for Victor Valdés to make his first save when Wesley Sneijder forced him to tip over the bar with a volley from inside the box. Less than a minute later though and Real Madrid should have taken the lead when Raúl played Royston Drenthe through behind the defence, only for the Dutch man to shoot tamely when one-one-one, allowing Valdés to save down to his right.
All the while the tackles continued to fly from the away side as Sergio Ramos and Christoph Metzelder both picked up yellow cards for poor tackles from behind. The home side were dominating possession but not really able to create any clear cut chances, and with just 36 minutes gone Sneijder had to be taken off to be replaced by debutant Miguel Palanca. The Dutchman was always a doubt for the match and presumably the risk to start him did not pay off as planned for Juande Ramos.
Madrid were holding their own though and bar a booking for Drenthe they managed to make it in to half-time unscathed. In fact, the whistles from the fans inside the Camp Nou towards referee Medina Cantalejo painted a clearer picture of the first-half than the scoreline. Barcelona had dominated for large parts but Madrid were happy to keep them at bay with borderline, and also reckless, tackles, that often the referee chose not to punish.
Real Chance
The second-half looked like it would begin in similar style to the first, with Barcelona monopolising the ball, but with just three minutes gone Real Madrid were again presented with a great chance from nowhere. A slack ball in midfield allowed a pass to be threaded through to Gonzalo Higuaín and until Carles Puyol slid in it looked like he would be one-on-one with Valdés. The Spanish defender put in a crucial tackle to prevent the Argentine from receiving the ball but still Barcelona could not create any chances early on.
Eto'o fired in a rasping volley from the right flank but that sailed over the bar whilst at the other end Higuaín threw himself to the floor theatrically on the edge of the box to no avail. The La Liga leaders looked the more likely of the two sides to break the deadlock but there was growing frustration in the Camp Nou as Sergio Busquets came on to replace Gudjohnsen.
Soon after coming on the young midfielder was involved in the incident which should have seen Barcelona take the lead too. Daniel Alves played a lovely little chipped ball over the defence after a corner and as Busquets burst through the middle he was tripped by Salgado, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Eto'o was the man who stepped up but the Cameroonian saw his shot brilliantly saved by Casillas as he dived to his left.
Minutes later the Spanish number one thwarted Eto'o again as he made a great save from a shot on the edge of the box, and then denied Messi from close range. With the final whistle looming Barcelona were growing more and more anxious and they were nearly picked off on the break by Palanca, but he shot straight at Valdés from a tight angle.
However, with just over five minutes left Barcelona finally got the break though and it was Eto'o who atoned for his penalty miss by scoring. The striker was in the right place at the right time to tap home from a great header by Puyol and the Camp Nou exploded as the Cameroonian whipped his shirt off and whirled it around his head.
The home side didn't stop there either as they grabbed another late in injury time through Messi, who after being played through by Henry on the counter-attack, chipped over Casillas to end the game perfectly for Barcelona.
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