It was an enthralling affair on Matchday 12 in the Liga F when Barcelona Femeni faced Granadilla Tenerife away from home. The match ended with the Catalans grabbing a 2-0 win away from home to wrap up their league action for the year.
Goals from Caroline Graham Hansen and Keira Walsh proved to be enough for the Blaugrana to secure their 12th win in the league this season.
First Half
Barcelona Femeni proved unplayable for the opposition in the first half completely keeping possession of the ball and dictating the intensity of the game. Chances were created in search of an opening goal, however, excellent goalkeeping and tenacity in defence denied the champions from finding the back of the net.
Twelve minutes into the game, Graham Hansen’s found Salma Paralluelo in the box with a whipped cross. However, the young forward’s touch sent the ball a little too far away from her and saw her final effort saved by the goalkeeper.
As the game progressed, barcelona kept searching for a breakthrough and in the 37th minute, Aitana Bonmati received the ball in the box and fired a low shot with her left foot. However, the Ballon d’Or winner was denied by the goalkeeper who made an excellent save to push the ball round the goal.
With halftime approaching, Tenerife goalkeeper’s pass was intercepted by Graham Hansne in front of goal, and the Norwegian sent the ball to Claudia Pina to bury the chance. Excellent defending saw the Pina’s shot deflected wide off the goal.
Both sides headed into the dressing room at halftime without any changes in the scoreline.
Second Half
Barcelona kept mounting pressure on the hosts’ defence and five minutes into the restart, their efforts were rewarded. In an attempt to defend a Barcelona cross, a Tenerife defender handled the ball in the box causing the referre to point to the penalty spot.
Caroline Graham Hansen stepped up to take the set piece for Barcelona and she calmly slotted the ball home, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Six minutes later, Aitana Bonamti freed the Norwegian forward with a fantastic through ball into the box, but Hansen’s attempt at chippin the ball over the goalkeeper failed and the scoreline remained at 1-0.
In the 62nd minute, Barcelona found an opening in the defense and punished Tenerife by scoring their second goal of the game. Aitana Bonmati found Keira Walsh on the edge of the box after dazzling her marker, and the English midfielder calmly took a touch before firing a curling shot into the bottom corner to seal the victory for Barcelona.
Barcelona almost lost their lead in the last ten minutes of the game when Mari Jose was left one-on-one with Sandra Panos in the Barcelona box. The attacker’s first opportunity came from a through ball over the top, which placed her directly in front of the Barcelona goalkeeper, who rushed out of goal to stop the host from scoring.
Five minutes later, Mari Jose was set loose again from a through ball and once again Panos was on hand to make the save, thus denying the islanders any chance of a comeback and keeping a clean sheet,
Barcelona ended their last league game of the year with a 2-0 victory, as they look forward to a Champions League clash against Rosengard on December 21.
