Barcelona continues its winning streak. Pedri scored the only goal at Villarreal

One of the most interesting duels in the 21st round of La Liga promised to be Villarreal’s Sunday night duel with Barcelona. It was a clash between a team seeking European Cups and the table leader. On the field of the Yellow Submarine, the result was 0:1, which was set by the 20-year-old youngster in the Blaugranas jersey Pedri with his goal in the first half.

The visitors were looking to get off to a winning start in their Europa League match against Manchester United on Thursday. However, they had to do without the injured Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembélé. For example, striker Gerard Moreno was missing from the home team’s line-up.

Just three minutes after the opening whistle, preceded by a minute’s silence to commemorate the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the first big chance was seen at the Estadio de la Cerámica. However, Robert Lewandowski was unsuccessful in the face of goalkeeper Pepe Reina.

A quarter of an hour later, Xavi’s side were already enjoying the lead. After a neat combination and an assist from the Polish canon, Pedri scored with a cross to the left post in the penalty area. In the 26th minute, Lewandowski then missed another scoring opportunity, hitting only the area where the Villarreal goalkeeper was ready.

33. the last minute brought an unpleasant moment for home midfielder Francis Coquelin, who was injured in a duel with Kessie and had to be stretchered off by medics. Former Barcelona coach Quique Setién sent Samuel Chukwueze onto the pitch instead.

Morales could have equalised with a goal in the first-half stoppage time, but he headed just wide of Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s goal after a hesitation by the visiting defence and his run into the box.

The action after the break was mainly marked by the Yellow Submarine’s efforts to score the equaliser, but the Blaugranas also had a number of attacking actions. In addition, fouls were accumulating at a fairly rapid pace on both sides, some of which were awarded yellow cards by head referee Hernández Hernández.

However, Villarreal’s players confirmed that goal productivity is not their strongest point. In fact, they have scored 22 goals in the current La Liga season. Chukwueze scored at the end of regulation time, but the referee missed his offside.

Pedri’s goal was the only one of the game. Barcelona, which boasts the best attack and the strongest defence, thus notched their sixth league win in a row. Villarreal are eighth after their third consecutive defeat.

Second-placed Real Madrid is eleven points behind its Catalan rival, but has one game in hand. It will be played on Wednesday at 9pm against last-place Elche.

La Liga, Nova Sport 4