Sergio Ramos scored a late equaliser to keep Real Madrid's six-point lead at the top of La Liga intact as they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 33 games with a 1-1 draw against Barcelona.
Luis Suarez's opener looked to have been enough to secure victory for Barca and inflict a first defeat in all competitions on Madrid since April 6, but Ramos had the final say as he headed home at the death.
It was a cagey affair in the first half with little in the way of goalmouth action until Lionel Messi fired a free kick straight at Keylor Navas in the 18th minute.
Madrid had to wait until the 32nd minute before their first real sight of goal, with Marcelo lashing a strike wide from the edge of the box after Cristiano Ronaldo had failed to connect with a bicycle kick.
Ronaldo was involved five minutes later, though, as he burst into the Barcelona box as Madrid countered, but the Portugal captain was unable to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen at his near post.
Ronaldo went close again for the visitors soon after, beating Javier Mascherano on the edge of the area before hitting a weak strike straight into the arms of ter Stegen.
Madrid had another chance to take the lead on the stroke of half time, with Raphael Varane arriving to connect with a corner, only to head straight at ter Stegen.
Barcelona did not have to wait too long to break the deadlock after the restart, with Suarez heading home Neymar's free kick in the 53rd minute to fire the hosts into the lead.
Barca, who brought on fit-again Andres Iniesta for his first appearance since October, could have made it two in the 68th minute with Neymar cutting inside from the left and beating a man before smashing the ball over the bar.
And Luis Enrique's side had another chance just seconds later to double their lead, but this time Iniesta could only strike against the side netting.
Barcelona continued to dominate against a Madrid side who found it hard to impose themselves in the second half and they spurned another chance in the 81st minute -- this time Messi was in on goal, but he could only pull his shot wide of the target.
Madrid did finally fashion an opportunity to equalise with just minutes remaining, but Ronaldo was unable to connect properly with a header at the far post and Barca cleared the danger.
Moments later, however, and Madrid were level with Ramos heading a Luka Modric free kick past ter Stegen as the visitors stunned the Camp Nou.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com