Griezmann Brace Helps Barcelona Past Villarreal
Antoine Griezmann scored a pair of first-half goals as Barcelona beat Villarreal 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
An excellent strike from Samu Chukwueze gave the home side a 1-0 lead, but Barcelona would answer in rapid-fire succession, with Griezmann twice finding the back of the net to put his side on top.
Despite a Manu Trigueros sending off midway through the second half, Villarreal pushed Barcelona until the final whistle, but the spoils belonged to the Catalan visitors, who are now level on points with second-placed Real Madrid and two points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid, who play later on Sunday.
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman made just one change from the team that scored five goals against Getafe in midweek, as Sergino Dest came in for Sergi Roberto. The United States international slotted in as the right wing-back, while Oscar Mingueza joined Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet in a three-man back line.
After early chances for both sides, Barcelona could only help but wonder how Frenkie de Jong did not make it 0-1 shortly after the quarter-hour mark. An excellent build-up and string of passes from Koeman’s men ended with Jordi Alba crossing for De Jong, with the goal-mouth gaping wide open. The Dutchman looked set to steer home the opener, only to be denied on a sensational save from Villarreal No.1 Sergio Asenjo.
Barcelona would rue the miss, as later in the half Chukwueze would hand the hosts a 1-0 lead by running onto a surgically played pass from Pau Torres, then taking advantage of a slight slip from Alba, rounding Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and slotting home for the goal.
Chukwueze’s finish was class, but a minute later Griezmann would top that with a sublime goal to pull Barcelona level 1-1. Oscar Mingueza matched Pau Torres with an inch-perfect ball into the Frenchman, who chipped over Asenjo and watched on as the ball bounced softly into the net.
Good fortune was on Griezmann’s side on the day as an error from Juan Foyth gifted Barcelona their second. The Villarreal defender played an ill-advised back pass to Asenjo and Griezmann was all over it, swooping in and firing past Asenjo for a 1-2 Barcelona lead.
Koeman made a change during the break, with Sergi Roberto coming on for Dest. The frenzied pace of the first 45 minutes slowed down considerably in the second half, but there were still chances and it took a big save from Ter Stegen to deny Etienne Capoue after some excellent work from Chukwueze.
Right after Koeman made his second switch, with Ilaix Moriba replacing the fatigued Pedri, Villarreal’s comeback hopes took a big hit when a studs-up challenge from Manu Trigueros on Messi resulted in a sending off for the Villarreal man.
With the one-goal lead and the man advantage, it was all there for Barcelona to put Villarreal to the sword, but the home side hung tough thanks to the skillful playmaking of Chukwueze, who set up Gerard Moreno for a crack at an equaliser, but he missed wide.
Koeman brought on Ousmane Dembele for Griezmann to try to take advantage of a short-handed Villarreal committing numbers forward, and the French winger set up a chance on a silver platter for De Jong to kill off the game, only to see the shot sail wide.
Ronald Araujo was brought on for Sergio Busquets to batten down the hatches in the final minutes, as Barcelona put the finishing touches on a tough win away from home.
Match Sheet:
1.- Villarreal: Asenjo; Foyth, Pau Torres, Albiol (Mario Gaspar, min. 89), Alberto Moreno (Estupinan, min. 60); Chukwueze (Pino, min. 89), Capoue (Moi Gomez, min. 77), Parejo, Trigueros; Gerard Moreno, Alcacer (Coquelin, min. 60).
2.- Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Pique, Lenglet; Dest (Sergi Roberto, min. 46), Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets (Araujo, min. 88), Pedri (Ilaix, min. 64), Jordi Alba; Messi, Griezmann (Dembele, min. 80).
Goals: 1-0, min. 27: Chukwueze; 1-1, min. 28: Griezmann; 1-2, min. 35: Griezmann.
Referee: Del Cerro Grande (Madrid).
Yellow cards: Griezmann (Min. 50) for Barcelona, Albiol (Min. 66) for Villarreal, Pau Torres (Min. 74) for Villarreal, Busquets (Min. 82) for Barcelona.
Red cards: Trigueros (Min. 65) for Villarreal.
Stadium: La Ceramica.
Attendance: 0.
