View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Soccer Laduma (@soccer_laduma)

Barca open 13-point lead despite derby stalemate

FC Barcelona moved 13 points clear at the top of LaLiga despite playing to a goalless draw against Girona on Monday night.

Eric Garcia and Ansu Fati came in as Barcelona's two changes from loss to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, with Marco Alonso and Franck Kessie dropping to the bench.

The game's first chance fell to the home side after just five minutes when Raphinha latched onto a poor back pass and teed up Lewandowski, who blazed over the target from close range.

Xavi Hernandez's charges continued to enjoy a most of the possession as the half went on, with the visitors defending deep while hoping to catch their opponents on the counter.

The chances continued to fall the way of the home side in the final ten minutes of the first half, with Raphinha being denied by Paulo Gazzaniga while Fati fired over the crossbar on the stroke of halftime.

After a quiet first half, Girona nearly got the breakthrough on 56 minutes when Ivan Martin did well to play in Valentín Castellanos, who was left one-on-one with Marc-Andre Ter Stegen but fired wide of the upright.

Xavi opted to freshen up his attack in soon after as Ferran Torres replaced Fati for the final 25 minutes, before the visitors introduced Rodrigo Riquelme a few minutes later.

The chances were hard to come by for the home side but when they did arrive, Gazzaniga was at his best to make some vital stops, including a stoppage-time save to keep out Gavi's glancing header.

You must be Sign In to read and post comments.

Click here to register: Sign In

Related tags

Comments