Skip to main content

Barcelona squander two-goal lead in draw at Villarreal

Barcelona missed out on the chance to go 11 points clear at the top of the Primera Division as they squandered a two-goal advantage in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal.
Ivan Rakitic's half-volley and a classy 'Panenka' penalty from Neymar had given Luis Enrique's side a comfortable lead before half-time.
But Villarreal fought back after the break, Cedric Bakambu halving the deficit before Jeremy Mathieu knocked the ball into his own net just moments after coming on as a substitute.
Despite failing to win for the first time in 13 league games, Barca increased their lead over nearest challengers Atletico Madrid at the top of the table to nine points after the Rojiblancos lost 2-1 at Sporting Gijon, while Villarreal remain fourth, picking up a first point in three games.
The hosts made a bright start, former Barcelona B player Denis Suarez dribbling his way towards the area and shooting a couple of feet wide of the far post, and then Bakambu taking down a pass by the near post and firing at Claudio Bravo, who repelled the shot.

Popular posts from this blog

Goals in Confederations Cup : Spain vs Uruguay 2-1

Tottenham’s Dele Alli eyes Premier League debut at Manchester United

It was quite the opening statement. Dele Alli, 24 minutes into his first start in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt, suckered in Luka Modric of Real Madrid, nutmegged him and accelerated away. The 70,000 sell-out crowd at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena roared at the 19-year-old’s sheer impudence. "We had a laugh about it in the tunnel afterwards; he was very good about it,” Alli said. "He shook my hand and said to me: ‘You little bugger’ – or something like that. I didn’t shout ‘nuts’ when I did it. I used to do that when I was young and get told off for it." As Alli spoke at the Allianz after Tuesday’s 2-0 Audi Cup victory, some of Real’s galácticos filed past. This time last year the midfielder was preparing for MK Dons’ League One season opener against Gillingham. His previous competitive game was for MK against Yeovil in May. Alli says “unreal” and “surreal” on a number of occasions and it is little wonder. This is a young player of conviction. If the nutmeg on one of...

Biggest ever UEFA international qualifying scorelines in history

In light of UEFA footballing minnows Andorra, Gibraltar, Malta and San Marino all taking on much higher-ranked opponents Portugal, Belgium, England and Northern Ireland respectively this international break, that got Coral writers thinking. Goals galore are expected in each of those fixtures, so we find out some of the biggest scorelines in the history of World Cup and Euro qualifying from European nations. England 8-0 Turkey (1987) We start off with England and, although their 8-0 win is not the biggest scoreline on the list, it was against one of the most high profile – Turkey. Ahead of Euro 1988, the Three Lions battered the Turkish outfit, thanks to a hat-trick from Gary Lineker and a brace from John Barnes, while Bryan Robson, Peter Beardsley and Neil Webb also chipped in. Spain 8-0 Liechtenstein (2016) Most recently, Spain hammered tiny territory Liechtenstein 8-0 too this current World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign, thanks to braces from Diego Costa, David S...