Thierry Henry scored his first league goal at Camp Nou to put Barça on the road to a 2-0 win over Almeria. Leo Messi who was kept on the substitutes bench, came on with fifteen minutes to go and converted a controversial penalty after Giovani dos Santos went down in the penalty area.

Gianluca Zambrotta and Toure Yaya both returned to the starting line-up after recovering from injury, but Frank Rijkaard decided to leave Messi on the bench as a precaution, Giovani took his place on the right wing and was involved in both goals.

The game started slowly and there wasn’t a shot until Toure tried a long shot after 12 minutes which was blocked by the defence. Ronaldinho who had a poor game tried to curl one in after 15 minutes but it was an easy save for Cobeño. Almeria then had two shots in the space of two minutes from Negredo and then Soriano, but they were both comfortable saves for Valdes.

There was little more worth mentioning until in the 36th minute Negredo broke into the Barça area but was prevented from shooting by a last ditch challenge from Carlos Puyol. A minute later Barça took the lead. Toure robbed the ball in midfield and sent a fine ball through to Giovani who got on the wrong side of his marker, Giovani ran into the penalty area but was met by Cobeño running out of his goal, Cobeño’s attempted clearance deflected off Giovani and went straight to Thierry Henry who had a relatively easy job to shoot past the one defender he had in front of him.

Puyol was substituted at half time, apparently for problems of digestion, and Rafa Marquez, also returning after injury, came on to partner Milito. The second half wasn’t much better than the first. Almeria had their best chance after 51 minutes, a dangerous cross from Soriano found Crusat’s head but his effort went well wide.

Barça’s attacks continued to lack bite and there were timid efforts, first from Henry who chipped the ball over when perhaps a cross was a better option, and then from Xavi and Iniesta who both had shots deflected for corners. Iniesta then tried to curl one into the far post but Cobeño got down well.

Toure who had a good return was replaced by Gudjohnsen after 62 minutes and twelve minutes later a disappointing Ronaldinho was taken off for Messi. On 76 minutes came the last scare for Barça when Marquez blocked Negredo’s advance but Almeria’s appeal for a penalty were ignored by the ref, probably due to Negredo making a meal of his fall.

Three minutes later Barça got a penalty at the other end. Giovani dos Santos who had switched to the left when Messi came on, ran into the area and went down under a challenge from Bruno, the penalty looked dubious to say the least but it was difficult to see if any contact had been made. Messi stepped up to take the penalty and confidently hit the ball at the centre of the goal as Cobeño dived out of the way to his right.

The last ten minutes saw the best football of the night as Almeria began to leave some space at the back. Henry sent a pass through to Giovani but he shot wide of the far post. Then Messi sent Henry through but his effort was well saved by Cobeño. There was still time for a good run from Henry but his finishing was poor.

The game was disappointing as a whole; there is still not a very good understanding between Henry and his team mates, and everything Ronaldinho tried came to nothing. The positives to take from the game were an active performance from Giovani and a good return from Toure Yaya. Gudjohnsen also gave a hard-working display in the half an hour he was on the pitch. Barça are still two points behind Madrid and this Thursday travel to Valladolid where three points will be vital to keep up the pressure at the top.

Barça: Valdés 6.5; Zambrotta 6, Puyol 7 (Marquez m45, 6), Milito 5.5, Abidal 6; Xavi 5.5, Toure 7 (Gudjohnsen m62, 6.5), Iniesta 6; Giovani 7, Henry 5.5, Ronaldinho 5 (Messi m74, 6.5).

Goals: 1-0 Henry m37, 2-0 Messi (pen) m80.

Yellow cards: Milito m6, Abidal m91.

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