Teenager Ilaix Moriba scored his first goal for Barcelona as Ronald Koeman’s side won 2-0 at Osasuna on Saturday to cut the gap on La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid to two points.
Report: Barca’s close gap on Atletico with a win vs Osasuna
In just his fifth appearance for the club, Ilaix, 18, struck from the edge of the box seven minutes from time after being set up by Lionel Messi. Jordi Alba had opened the scoring in the first half, firing in from the left side of the box after Messi had played in.
Barca were also indebted to gamekeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who made a series of good saves as they stretched their unbeaten run in La Liga to 16 games.
Advanced materials
The Ilaix Academy graduate gave the feature a good feel as Barca maintained their impressive form in the league. Koeman has shown a lot of credit in it over the past week, and he threw forward with the game hanging in the balance at 1-0 with 25 minutes to go. He showed no sign of nerves as he cut inside his man before he gave a good finish to cover the points for Barca at El Sadar, the same ground where Ansu Fati got his first goal for the Catalan club.
All three points felt particularly important in the context of a midweek comeback against Sevilla in the semifinal Copa del Rey. It would have been easy to move after that high, while also turning the pressure on the leaders of Atletico, who face Real Madrid in third place in the Derby on Sunday.
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Negatives
Barca leveled the line, which required huge saves from Ter Stegen to keep them ahead. On another night, they could have dropped points. Scotland was also taken off late with a knock. Barca will be hoping for nothing with the form he has recently provided.
Manager ranks out of 10
7 – Koeman deserves a lot of credit for giving Ilaix a run of minutes in big games.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players not included after 70 minutes are not rated)
GK Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 8 – Made several impressive savings. Perhaps the stops to reject Kike Barja and Ruben Garcia.
DF Clement Lenglet, 7 – Probably his best performance in 2021. He fought well against Osasuna’s attackers and was confident on the ball.
DF Samuel Umtiti, 5 – Reserved to hit Roberto Torres in a dangerous spot, although Lenglet’s pass was sold short. Removed at half-time.
DF Oscar Mingueza, 7 – Another mature performance as part of a back three in the first half and as one of two backs after the break.
MF Sergio Busquets, 6 – He came off an hour after another hard-hitting display in the middle. Performs better with three-center defense.
MF Pedri, 7 – He rarely made a mistake with the ball at his feet. He almost scored, but his shot from 18 yards was too close to Sergio Herrera.
MF Frenkie de Jong, 7 – Again, the Dutch international did not stop running. He fell back when Busquets left to lift Barca’s attacks from depth.
MF Jordi Alba, 8 – He scored his fifth goal of the campaign, matching the highest total ever from the 2012-13 season. He is in good form in attack, where he benefits from a great friendship with Messi, but he is also well covered in defense.
MF Sergino Dest, 6 – He got into some good positions on the right side and got a blow from his mark, but doubted when it finally came to the ball.
FW Antoine Griezmann, 6 – He returned to the sidelines after three games on the bench but was unable to make a case for more consistent football.
FW Lionel Messi, 8 – Both set goals and all Barca attacks went through, although his teammates could look for him as a deterrent.
Agents
FW Ousmane Dembele, 6 – They came on at half time, but were not at the very beginning in the third round.
MF Ilaix Moriba, 7 – He sent some fresh energy to the middle of the park on a night he will never forget.
FW Martin Braithwaite, 6 – He worked hard after coming on for Griezmann but had little fortune in and around the area.
MF Riqui Puig, N / R – He replaced Pedri after Ilaix’s late goal.
DF Firpo Òg, N / R – Giving up the last few minutes at left back.