Monday, August 4, 2008

Barcelona tops Guadalajara in friendly

Barcelona tops Guadalajara in friendly


CHICAGO -- FC Barcelona lit up the scoreboard at Soldier Field on Sunday evening, rolling to a 5-2 victory against CD Guadalajara in front of a crowd of 40,717.

Second-half substitute Samuel Eto'o highlighted the goal fiesta with a pair of goals, after Barcelona had taken a 2-0 lead into halftime in the first game of their two-match tour.

Pedro Ramirez almost put Barcelona ahead in the early minutes of play. The ball bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and appeared to bounce over the line before coming back out, but the referee ruled no goal. It didn't take long, however, for Barcelona to take control.

Barcelona's Andres Iniesta made a run up the left side of the field. He dodged a defender and tapped the ball over to Xavi, who let fly from long range. Chivas goalkeeper Sergio Rodriguez got a hand on it but the ball still rolled into the lower left corner for a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute.

Mexican international Rafael Marquez blocked a Chivas attempt in the 39th minute, turning the play into Chivas corner kick which resulted in nothing. Barcelona controlled the first half of play, not allowing Chivas a single shot on goal.

In the 45th minute, Barcelona's newly acquired forward Alexander Hleb made it 2-0. He ran onto a bouncing ball in the area, settled it, rounded Rodriguez and powered into the net for a 2-0 lead at the half.

Eto'o entered the match as a second-half substitution and quickly made an impact. In the 49th minute Jeffren Suarez crossed the ball into the box from the right flank and Eto'o tapped it in for a 3-0 advantage.

Chivas made things interesting ten minutes later. Barcelona's Daniel Alves attempted to pass the ball back to defender Carles Puyol. Jesus Padilla of Chivas broke up the play, took possession of the ball, sped up and shot the ball into the net for the club's first goal of the night.

Eto'o struck again in the 72nd minute. He made a run upfield and passed the ball to Bojan Krkic on the right side of the box. Krkic took a couple steps and crossed it back into the box. Eto'o made the short run to get the return pass and sent the ball into the net for a 4-1 advantage.

Chivas turned up the pressure after the fourth Barcelona goal. In the 86th minute, Sergio Santana sent a bicycle kick wide of the net. In the 88th minute Javier Hernandez headed the ball into the net to give Chivas a second goal.

Barcelona added another one just two minutes later, when Jose Caceres jumped up and headed in a corner for a 5-2 lead in the 90th minute.

Jose Pinto manned the net for Barcelona for the full 90 minutes, allowing just two goals.

Barcelona's tour continues as the team heads to New York to take on the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium on Wednesday.

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