Barcelona Femeni with a 2-1 victory over Sporting Huelva

Barcelona Femeni won their second league game of the season with a 2-1 victory away at Sporting Huelva. Goals from Claudia Pina and Patri Guijarro in both halves secured the victory for the league champions.

Liga F resumed this weekend after a short international break. The return to football action at club level for Barcelona Femeni had them play an away game against Sporting Huelva. The league champions fielded a heavily rotated squad, with some key players excluded from the starting lineup and some players not even allowed to make the trip to Huelva due to technical decisions.

With the seemingly unending run of games for Barcelona this month, the rotation was important to manage the fitness levels of the players, especially those who represented their country during the international break. The game was one to test the squad depth of the Blaugrana, with regular starters benched to give them some much-needed rest after two weeks of international football.

Barcelona got the game underway and, in typical fashion, dominated the game from start to finish. The team created a number of chances but failed to find the back of the net until Claudia Pina opened the scoring in the 24th minute. 

It started with a wonderful exchange of passes between Graham Hansen and Vicky Lopez down the right flank. The Norwegian winger then passed the ball to Bruna Vilamala in the opposition’s box; the midfielder was immediately crowded by the Sporting defense. However, she was able to wriggle her way out and teed up Claudia Pina for Barcelona’s first goal of the game.

Barcelona kept asking questions of the Sporting backline but failed to really make their dominance in attack count. Incomplete passes, blocked shots, unusual misses in front of goal, as well as a miss from the penalty spot, kept the hosts alive.

It was not until the 76th minute that Esmee Brugts won a penalty for Barcelona after she was hacked down in the box. Alexia Putellas, who came on with Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey as substitutes, took the penalty. However, the skipper’s spot kick was saved by Sporting Huelva’s goalie, Chelsea Ashurst.

The search for a second goal continued with Barcelona launching waves upon waves of attack on the opposition’s defense. However, with 5 additional minutes, the champions were rewarded for their effort in the 92nd minute when Patri Guijarro headed home from Aitana Bonmati’s cross.

Sporting Huelva also got a consolation goal with the last kick of the game. Carrasco volleyed home from  a deep cross and brought the match to an end with her goal.

✌️Victòria a la Lliga 💪 pic.twitter.com/62b2haBJ5q

— FC Barcelona Femení (@FCBfemeni) October 1, 2023

The 2-1 victory helped Barcelona secure all three points and made it two wins out of two games played in the league this season. Barcelona play again in the league on October 5th, when they face Valencia at home for their postponed matchday 1 action in Liga F.