Post by Bismarck on Feb 4, 2008 14:39:23 GMT
BARCELONA, February 3 (Primera Liga) - Barcelona moved to within six points of leaders Real Madrid following a dramatic 1-0 win over Osasuna at the Nou Camp on Sunday.
Buoyed by Real's defeat at Almeria on Saturday, the Catalans began with the attacking verve missing in their recent games.
But the visitors resisted until the 87th minute, when Xavi fired home a dramatic late winner to give Barcelona hope of regaining the league title which had looked beyond them after they slipped nine points behind Real last week.
Having scored just three goals in their last five matches, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard called for his side to adopt a more direct style in this match, and his team appeared to take heed of their coach's advice as they blitzed the Osasuna goal early on.
Thierry Henry fed Lionel Messi with a cheeky backheel on six minutes, but the Argentina winger flashed his shot just wide.
Messi, this time employed in the centre-forward role, threatened again in Barcelona's next attack, but mis-hit his effort from 12 yards out.
Ricardo was then forced to dive low to save Bojan Krkic's goalbound effort, and the Osasuna keeper also did well to gather Henry's stinging strike at the second time of asking.
Barcelona continued to press and Deco sent a shot spinning wide from just outside the area after a quarter of an hour.
The Catalans were dominating possession and should have taken the lead on 28 minutes.
Andres Iniesta stormed his way through the Osasuna defence and, having beaten Ricardo, looked to have done enough to put his side ahead, but Nacho Monreal got back to head the ball off the line and behind for a corner.
A minute later, Barcelona again thought they had gone ahead when Gabi Milito headed home Messi's cross, but the Argentina defender was marginally offside when the ball was delivered and the home celebrations were brought to an abrupt end by the assistant referee's raised flag.
Ricardo then did well to keep out Henry's header and also parried Bojan's shot behind for a corner as the home side continued to push for an opening goal.
But the breakthrough remained elusive.
Messi beat two defenders in the box five minutes before half-time, but was just off target with his shot.
And just before the break, Bojan almost got on the end of Deco's drive, but Barcelona were unable to turn their pressure into goals and the two teams went in on level terms at the break.
The home side lost their intensity after the interval and Rijkaard opted to make changes in the last half hour.
Giovani Dos Santos replaced Henry and Ronaldinho came on for Messi as the Catalans searched for fresh legs and new ideas going forward.
Giovani set up Deco on 69 minutes, but the Brazil-born midfielder badly mistimed his shot and Barcelona still had nothing to show for their efforts.
As time ticked away, the home side created little and looked as if they would be frustrated by a stubborn and rather fortunate Osasuna outfit.
But with just three minutes left, Iniesta's shot rebounded off a defender and fell to Xavi, who fired home the rebound to ensure three precious points for Barcelona.
Having appeared doomed just a week ago, their title race is back on.
Osasuna, meanwhile, sit above the relegation zone on goal difference only.
Buoyed by Real's defeat at Almeria on Saturday, the Catalans began with the attacking verve missing in their recent games.
But the visitors resisted until the 87th minute, when Xavi fired home a dramatic late winner to give Barcelona hope of regaining the league title which had looked beyond them after they slipped nine points behind Real last week.
Having scored just three goals in their last five matches, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard called for his side to adopt a more direct style in this match, and his team appeared to take heed of their coach's advice as they blitzed the Osasuna goal early on.
Thierry Henry fed Lionel Messi with a cheeky backheel on six minutes, but the Argentina winger flashed his shot just wide.
Messi, this time employed in the centre-forward role, threatened again in Barcelona's next attack, but mis-hit his effort from 12 yards out.
Ricardo was then forced to dive low to save Bojan Krkic's goalbound effort, and the Osasuna keeper also did well to gather Henry's stinging strike at the second time of asking.
Barcelona continued to press and Deco sent a shot spinning wide from just outside the area after a quarter of an hour.
The Catalans were dominating possession and should have taken the lead on 28 minutes.
Andres Iniesta stormed his way through the Osasuna defence and, having beaten Ricardo, looked to have done enough to put his side ahead, but Nacho Monreal got back to head the ball off the line and behind for a corner.
A minute later, Barcelona again thought they had gone ahead when Gabi Milito headed home Messi's cross, but the Argentina defender was marginally offside when the ball was delivered and the home celebrations were brought to an abrupt end by the assistant referee's raised flag.
Ricardo then did well to keep out Henry's header and also parried Bojan's shot behind for a corner as the home side continued to push for an opening goal.
But the breakthrough remained elusive.
Messi beat two defenders in the box five minutes before half-time, but was just off target with his shot.
And just before the break, Bojan almost got on the end of Deco's drive, but Barcelona were unable to turn their pressure into goals and the two teams went in on level terms at the break.
The home side lost their intensity after the interval and Rijkaard opted to make changes in the last half hour.
Giovani Dos Santos replaced Henry and Ronaldinho came on for Messi as the Catalans searched for fresh legs and new ideas going forward.
Giovani set up Deco on 69 minutes, but the Brazil-born midfielder badly mistimed his shot and Barcelona still had nothing to show for their efforts.
As time ticked away, the home side created little and looked as if they would be frustrated by a stubborn and rather fortunate Osasuna outfit.
But with just three minutes left, Iniesta's shot rebounded off a defender and fell to Xavi, who fired home the rebound to ensure three precious points for Barcelona.
Having appeared doomed just a week ago, their title race is back on.
Osasuna, meanwhile, sit above the relegation zone on goal difference only.