Mueez Ajao
– Late goals from Memphis Depay and Philippe Coutinho delivered Barcelona a 3-1 victory over Villarreal in LaLiga Santander on Saturday night at the Estadio de La Ceramica.
– The guests took a lead early in the second half through Frenkie de Jong, only for Villarreal to battle back and find a leveller through Samu Chukwueze. Just when it looked like the Yellow Submarine were poised to find a winner, Memphis turned the tables by taking advantage of a Villarreal mistake and scoring the decisive goal. Coutinho would then convert a stoppage time penalty to nail down a second straight league win for new boss Xavi Hernandez.
– Xavi handed out a first ever start to youngster Abde, who slotted into attack with Gavi and Memphis , while in the back it was three-man centre-backs with Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique and Eric Garcia.
Also Read: We need to win on Saturday – Xavi
– There was plenty to talk about in the opening minutes with a trio of chances for Barcelona and controversial no-calls from referee Soto Grado, who spared Dani Parejo of a potential red card for a rough tackle on Sergio Busquets and a potential Pique handball in the area.
– One of those Barcelona chances was for Memphis, who then missed a clear-cut opportunity later on in the half, while Yeremi Pino and Pedraza had chances that fell by the wayside.
– Just like in last week’s win over Espanyol, the Barcelona goal came shortly after the re-start, as a Jordi Alba cross glanced off of Memphis and reached the stabbing foot of De Jong, who had an easy tap-in. Initially ruled offside, the play went to VAR and the goal was confirmed for a 1-0 Barcelona lead.
– Villarreal slowly began to respond, so Xavi went to his bench, bringing on Ousmane Dembele for Abde, followed by Oscar Mingueza for Alba and then Philippe Coutinho for Nico.
– The momentum was with Villarreal and sure enough the home side would get their equaliser as some slack defending allowed Villarreal substitute Samuel Chukwueze to swoop in and hit a first-time shot past goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make it 1-1.
– Villarreal looked the likelier side to find a winner and Danjuma nearly did just that with a right-footed shot that had Ter Stegen beat, but instead slipped just wide of the post.
– But against the run of play Memphis would sneak in and grab a late winner for the Catalans when a long punt upfield from Ter Stegen was headed back by Villarreal’s Pervis Estupinan, allowing the Dutch striker to pounce and ultimately sweep in a shot to deliver Barcelona a 2-1 advantage.
– A stoppage time foul from Juan Foyth on Coutinho in the Villarreal area resulted in a penalty and the Brazilian confident stroked home the spot kick, polishing off the 3-1 scoreline.
