A goal of Frankie de Jong in the 87th minute rescued Barcelona in Vitoria before an Alavés that put him in many difficulties, in a game that opened in the second half, in which chances came for both teams.
With this triumph the Catalan team moves closer to Champions League spots, while Alavés stayed in the relegation zone.
The Dutchman took advantage of a pass from Ferrán Torres to beat Fernando Pacheco and unbalance the balance when it seemed that the match was going to end in a draw.
Barcelona started fulfilling the planned script. He led the party’s singing voice and had the first arrivals in the area of an Alavés who was well planted without suffering.
José Luis Mendilibar’s men pressed in several outings for the azulgranas in search of revenue and found them in a serious loss of the ball by Sergi Busquets that Xavi Hernández’s men corrected with a good retreat to avoid scares.
The first serious warning was given Luuk de Jong at 13 minutes with a semi volley after a pass from Pedri González that the Dutchman could not direct on goal.
Barça took risks under the pressure of a dynamic and tense Alavés, who chose the moments in which he squeezed his rival and trusted in the destruction of the approach of the azulgranas, who insisted on playing on the wings.
In fact, given the problems that his men had, he opted to exchange Abde and Ferrán Torres and the Moroccan found a little more depth that he did not have on the left.
It was half an hour in which Barça arrived little and Alavés did not set foot in the area and limited themselves to waiting for errors from their rival. Another of the bullets of the locals were the strategic plays, a facet in which the Barça defense does not feel comfortable, but it came out victorious on the few occasions that there were.
The first half closed with a ride by Luis Rioja who gave in to Pere Pons in an Albiazul counterattack, but he was unable to hit a ball that came out centered and Ter Stegen caught without problems.
Barça came out with more energy after the break and he approached the crazy goal with more danger than in the first 45 minutes, but he could not finish off. Yes, Pere Pons did it in the response of the Vitoria team, but his shot, with his back to the goal, walked in front of the Barcelona goal.
The game opened up more and the two teams came easily to the opposite area, but again it was the set pieces that gave Barça the best results.
In the 63rd minute, the clearest opportunity came in a strategic play that Luuk de Jong could not finish off the net, in the mouth of the goal, when he met a great Fernando Pacheco, who avoided the first goal of the game.
Barcelona changed the chip compared to the first half and sharpened its fang in search of victory with a more offensive game, but Alavés was not daunted and hovered around Ter Stegen’s territory, to the point of ask the referee for a penalty after a fall by Tomás Pina in the 74th minute.
Jason Remeseiro, very active throughout the duel on the right wing, found Joselu Mato in one of his runs, but the Galician did not find a door in a great header, which it went wide when Mendizorroza sang the goal.
When it seemed that the duel was going to end in a draw, Frenkie de Jong appeared to rescue three golden points for Barcelona. The Dutchman only had to push a transfer from Ferrán Torres, who shot a millimetric uncheck inside the area to receive a pass from Jordi Alba and give the goal to his teammate.
Alavés had the last in added time to equalize the match in a corner kick, but Ter Stegen caught the ball, well placed.
Datasheet:
0 – Alaves: Pacheco; Martin, Laguardia, Lejeune, Javi Lopez; Jason, Pina (Moya, min.87), Escalante, Pons (Miguel, min.71), Rioja (Édgar, min.90); and Joselu.
1 – Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Hammered, Araujo, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquet, Pedri (Lenglet, min.90), F. De Jong; Abde (Nico, min.71), Ferrán Torres and Luuk de Jong (Jutglá, min.84).
Goal: 0-1, m.87: F. De Jong
Referee: Figueroa Vazquez. He expelled the local coach Mendilibar with a red card (min.91).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the twenty-second day of the LaLiga Santander played in Mendizorroza before 14,056 spectators, according to data provided by Alavés.
