Granada stop Barcelona

Granada grabbed a point in the dying embers of their LaLiga Santander match against Barcelona, as the two teams drew 1–1 at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Saturday evening.

Luuk de Jong scored the opening goal of the game in the 57th minute, having thought he had originally done so in the first half, but Antonio Puertas fired the ball beyond Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 89th minute to secure a point for the Andalusians.

Xavi Hernandez went with a line-up that included De Jong up top, perhaps as a reward for his match-winning goal against Real Mallorca last weekend, while Dani Alves made his second LaLiga Santander debut for Barcelona as he started at right-back.

Barcelona began the game as the more positive team and had the ball in the back of the net after just eight minutes, with De Jong heading Gavi’s cross into the bottom right corner, but the 17-year-old was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up after a VAR review.

De Jong was clearly in a confident mood and tried an acrobatic backheel shot that went just over Luis Maximiano’s goal in the 17th minute, but after that Barcelona were largely limited to long-distance shots in the remainder of the first half.

Granada’s best chance of the first half saw Darwin Machis sting the palms of Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 26th minute, as his shot took a deflection off Dani Alves but was well saved by the German.

The first 45 minutes did see Granada grow more into the match, and that continued in the early part of the second period. However, it was Barcelona who grabbed the game’s opening goal. Dani Alves’ pinpoint cross from the right was met by De Jong, whose header was too powerful for Maximiano to keep out.

It seemed as though Barcelona were going to see out the match and climb up to third in the table, but Gavi’s second yellow in the 79th minute set up a nervy ending for the Catalans.

Then, in the 89th minute and following a period of sustained Granada pressure, the hosts grabbed an equaliser. The Barcelona defenders failed to clear a Granada corner and the ball fell at the feet of Antonio Puertas, who swivelled and fired a left-footed shot into the roof of Ter Stegen’s net.

This result means that both sides’ unbeaten runs continue, with Granada’s extending to seven games and Barcelona’s to five, but this will definitely feel like two points dropped for Xavi’s charges.

Courtesy: MARCA

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