After twenty minutes without goals, and beginning to get the idea that they would have to sweat to find the key to break down the away team, goals from Fernandao and Javi Rodriguez in the first
minutes after the restart paved the road to victory for Barça Alusport. It’s a win that leaves Marc Carmona’s team, with only two games to go to the end of the regular season, just three points from making sure of home advantage in the final phase of the run-in for the title.

Scoreless first half

It was a hard-fought win. Up against them were an always intense Benicarlo side who, as expected, just like they always do, caused Barça a lot of problems with their alternating defense, either high up the pitch, or defending deeply. It was to be a game of attrition, sweating blood to find the first goal.. The home side tried from the very start. Saad and Fernandao both had two good opportunities, but found goalkeeper Gus in good form, and other chances went very close. The best chances for the away team fell to Chicho, following a corner, and Xapa, from a long clearance by the keeper.

Good pressing from the home team allowed them to recover the ball quickly, but creating dangerous chances was a bit more complicated.. Benicarló were quite comfortable, letting the minutes go by without having too much trouble in defense. Barça dominated the game but their attacks were becoming more sterile as the clock ticked away. They had great difficulty getting past the Benicarló defensive line, and the game became very tactical. The Barça attacks were becoming predictable. Cristian, for much of the game a mere spectator, had to be attentive to the few attacks by Benicarló, mainly from set-pieces.

Fernandao opens the box

The last few minutes of the first half and the first few of the second were the best. A Torras shot hit the post, and Wilde failed to connect after a good move, but half-time came with the score 0-0.
Something special was needed to break down the Benicarló defense, and it came in the first minute of the second half, when, after good ball recovery, Fernandao found himself in a one-on-one with keeper Gus and scored with a shot just inside the post. The goal spurred on Alusport and the fans, but also Benicarló, who until then were more a defensive wall than a threat.

Chaguinha had a chance for the visitors, but Javi Rodriguez made it 2-0 after some good team play. In only 3 minutes Barça scored 2 goals, something they had been unable to do in the first 20 minutes. Benicarló were still very defensive, and could do little against Alusport, who dominated the game.

The minutes ticked away with very few chances. An indirect free-kick against the post from Ari Santos was the best chance, and 3 shots from Lin and Fernandao (twice) were well saved by Gus. Benicarló played with a rush goalkeeper for the last 4 minutes, but the Barça defense held firm, and took the 3 valuable points from the match.