February 21, (THEWILL) – Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace were all enough to give Barcelona a crucial victory over a struggling Valencia team.
Xavi’ Hernandez’s team scored three goals in the first half to put the game out of reach, until Carlos Soler scored a consolation and Pedri added a thundering fourth in the second half.
Barcelona was the superior team in the first half, and their domination was nearly rewarded in the 19th minute. The ball was sent through to Ferran Torres on the right side of the penalty area after some slick play on the edge of the box. However, Aubameyang was unable to reach the subsequent drilled cross across the six-yard box.
Aubameyang scored his first goal three minutes later, and it was brilliant. The former Arsenal man latched on to Jordi Alba’s stunning long cross before slamming the ball into the top left corner of the net.
The dominance continued, and it was 2-0 at the half-hour mark. The goal came after some fantastic play around the area, which ended with Alba lifting the ball over the top of the Valencia defence and into Ousmane Dembele’s path. After that, the French international was able to coolly slip the ball across goal to Frenkie de Jong, who scored his third La Liga goal of the season.
Before halftime, Aubameyang made it 3-0, with La Blaugrana ripping apart a fully, utterly, unquestionably poor Valencia backline. The goal was similar to De Jong’s in that a ball was played across the six-yard box and tapped into the net, but this time it was Gavi who created the goal and Auba who scored it.
Valencia apparently woke up in the second half and appeared to be ready to battle their way back into the game, thanks to a stunning headed goal from Soler. They did not stay in the game with that pressure for long, as replacement Pedri came off the bench and cannoned the ball into the net from roughly 25 yards out.
After that, when Barcelona let off the gas, the home side created a few chances, but they lacked the skill to rip through the opponent defence and nothing became of their late efforts.
With the win, Barcelona remained ahead of defending champions Atletico Madrid with the Catalan side now in fourth place in La Liga. They have now gone five games without a loss heading into Thursday’s second-leg Europa League showdown against Napoli.
However, Valencia’s quest for a league victory in 2022 continues. They remain in 12th place and will face Real Mallorca in their next match.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
