GUADALAJARA, Spain: Late strikes from Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory for Barcelona against third-tier side Guadalajara on Tuesday, sending the Catalans through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Barcelona labored for much of the match at the Pedro Escartin stadium, holding over 80 percent of possession but struggling to break down a disciplined five-man Guadalajara defense.
The home side posed a constant threat on the counter-attack and frustrated the European heavyweights for long stretches.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick introduced regular starters Pau Cubarsi, Alejandro Balde, Jules Kounde, and Pedri from the bench in the second half, seeking a breakthrough.
The changes finally paid dividends in the 77th minute when Frenkie de Jong whipped in a cross from the right and defender Christensen rose highest to meet the delivery, with his header deflecting off Guadalajara’s Julio Martinez before nestling in the net.
The hosts nearly produced an immediate response, with Salifo Caropitche unleashing a fierce drive from distance, but Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen — who was playing his first game for Barca since May — reacted superbly to tip the effort over the bar, preserving his side’s slender lead.
Guadalajara’s hopes were extinguished in the dying moments when Lamine Yamal played a sublime through-ball into the path of Rashford.
The English forward showed great composure, wrong-footing keeper Dani Vicente with a quick cut to his left before tapping the ball into the empty net to wrap up the result for Barcelona.
“These are tricky matches; they come out with everything they’ve got and we have to do the same,” Cubarsi told TVE.
“In the second half, we picked up the pace and moved them from side to side to tire them out. As the minutes passed, they grew tired, and that was the key point. They played spectacularly well.”
Christensen and Rashford on target as Barcelona beat Guadalajara in Copa del Rey
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Christensen and Rashford on target as Barcelona beat Guadalajara in Copa del Rey
- Guadalajara’s hopes were extinguished in the dying moments when Lamine Yamal played a sublime through-ball into the path of Rashford
Riyadh derby ends in 5-3 thriller as Al-Hilal return to winning ways
- Al-Hilal remain unbeaten after 24 games but sit third on 58 points — one behind leaders Al-Ahli
RIYADH: It was a night to forget for Ali Al-Bulayhi. Loaned to Al-Shabab this winter after nine years at Al-Hilal, his first game against his parent club turned into a nightmare.
Matchday 24 of the Saudi Pro League resumed at the SHG Arena with one of Riyadh’s most entertaining derbies — Al-Hilal vs Al-Shabab. While clashes with Al-Nassr attract greater anticipation, the history between Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab runs deep.
In the inaugural 2008/09 Saudi Pro League season, Al-Shabab held Al-Hilal to a dramatic 1-1 draw, with both sides scoring in stoppage time before chaos erupted. The result handed Al-Ittihad the edge in the title race, which they converted into the league crown. Al-Shabab later thrashed Al-Hilal in the King’s Cup semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy.
The landscape today looks very different. Al-Shabab have flirted with relegation for much of the season, while Al-Hilal, despite remaining in the title race, slipped to third after a poor run of form.
Yet form often counts for little in derby matches. Al-Shabab pushed Al-Nassr close in a 3-2 defeat in January before falling 5-2 to Al-Ahli a month later. For all their defensive frailties, the pairing of Yannick Carrasco and Abderrazzaq Hamed-allah remains dangerous.
It was no surprise, then, when Al-Shabab took the lead after 13 minutes. Al-Hilal’s defensive vulnerabilities were exposed as Carrasco and Saad Yaslam combined down the left, allowing Josh Brownhill a free strike inside the box that he drilled past Yassine Bounou.
With Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari rested by Simone Inzaghi in favour of Saimon Bouabré and Sultan Mandash — and Karim Benzema absent — belief briefly grew that this could be Al-Shabab’s night.
The momentum shifted quickly. In the 19th minute, Al-Bulayhi misjudged a header from a long throw, and Mohammed Kanno pounced to volley home the equalizer past Marcelo Grohe.
More misfortune followed for the defender in the 31st minute. A cross from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic appeared routine for Grohe but was inadvertently turned into his own net by Al-Bulayhi.
Al-Shabab responded before the break. On the stroke of half-time, Carrasco released Hamed-allah into the same channel Brownhill had exploited, and the Moroccan forward turned past Kalidou Koulibaly before finishing to level the match.
The parallels continued. Both of Al-Shabab’s goals came from near-identical positions, while Al-Hilal’s third arrived in equally chaotic fashion. Another long throw caused havoc in first-half stoppage time, and Koulibaly redeemed his earlier error by forcing the ball home after a poor goal-line clearance from Al-Bulayhi.
From there, Al-Hilal took control. Winter signing Sultan Mandash made his mark three minutes into the second half, meeting Kanno’s cross with a superb first-time trivela finish to make it 4-2. Minutes later, he turned provider, setting up Marcos Leonardo for a composed fifth.
Still, Al-Shabab refused to fade. In the 75th minute, Yacine Adli’s driven cross evaded everyone and crept past Bounou to reduce the deficit to 5-3.
The visitors pushed for an unlikely comeback, but Al-Hilal held firm to secure victory, much to the relief of their supporters after dropping points in their previous two matches.
Elsewhere, Al-Ittihad continued their revival in a turbulent campaign with a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej. Danilo Pereira scored the decisive goal, tapping in from a Mahamadou Doumbia corner.
In Qassim, Al-Ettifaq travelled to face Al-Hazem as favourites and took an early lead through Koka. However, Abdulbasit Hindi handled on the line in the 17th minute — echoing Luis Suarez’s infamous intervention against Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup — and was sent off.
Yousef Al-Shammari converted the resulting penalty before Fabio Martins produced a stunning long-range header that could contend for the Puskas Award. Martins later assisted Aboubacar Bah for Al-Hazem’s third in a memorable victory.
Saudi Pro League action resumes on Saturday with four matches kicking off at 10pm: Al-Fayha host Al-Nassr, Al-Najma face Al-Okhdood, Al-Qadsiah take on Al-Taawoun, and NEOM meet Al-Kholood.
