By: Osabuohien Imuetinyanosa
Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford struck late as Barcelona edged to a 2-0 victory over Guadalajara and ensured them a place in the Copa del Rey round of 16.
Just six minutes into the game, Guadalajara goalkeeper Dani Vicente almost gifted Barcelona an opener; he could not hold onto Eric Garcia’s dipping long-range effort as he stumbled on the line, but he just managed to stop the ball from crossing.
Barcelona struggled to break down their third-tier opponents as the first half went on, with Andreas Christensen and Fermin Lopez both seeing efforts from distance comfortably dealt with.
However, the visitors came out with a renewed spirit in the second half, and Rashford forced Vicente into a smart save with his right foot after bursting in behind following a one-two with Roony Bardghji.
Vicente smothered another Rashford shot just moments later, while Fermin’s awkward acrobatic effort bounced narrowly wide under pressure.
However, they eventually got some luck as Christensen peeled away at the far post to meet Frenkie de Jong’s delivery, and his header hit the back of the net after a big deflection off Julio Martinez 76 minutes in.
Guadalajara attempted to fight back, with Salifo Caropitche Mendes’ long-range looping effort forcing Marc-Andre ter Stegen into a brilliant stretching stop, but they were undone again in the 90th minute as Rashford rounded Vicente to slot into the empty net and round off the match.
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For a long time in this match, Guadalajara comfortably dealt with Barcelona’s threat, despite Hansi Flick fielding a strong team to start their Copa del Rey defence.
Barca finished the game with 1.95 expected goals (xG) from 21 shots, but had to be patient, only managing four shots in the box in the first half.
They eventually turned their 82.7% possession and 100 final-third entries into results, though, with Rashford getting the goal he deserved. Only Fermin (five) had more shots than him, but the Englishman had the most touches in the opposition box (12) and created three chances – only De Jong (four) had more.
