October 31, (THEWILL) – Barcelona’s woes continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Deportivo Alaves at Camp Nou in their first game since Ronald Koeman’s dismissal and under the interim leadership of Sergi Barjuan, in a game that saw Sergio Aguero forced off before half-time due to injury on his first home La Liga start.
Barcelona had won eight of their previous nine matches with Alaves, and they swiftly established their dominance in the possession.
At the other end, an unmarked Edgar Mendez glanced Ruben Duarte’s deep free-kick just wide, while they came close to breaking the deadlock when Eric Garcia’s header was wonderfully punched away by Antonio Sivera.
Aguero was forced to leave the pitch before the halftime break as fears for the hosts mounted. He had gone down clutching his chest. The Argentina international appeared to be in some difficulty but when the medical staff attended to him, he was able to get to his feet and walk away from the field.
Nonetheless, four minutes after the restart, Barca took the lead emphatically, with Depay bending a fantastic 25-yard strike into the far corner for his fifth goal of the season.
Within three minutes, though, the visitors equalised, with Luis Rioja combining well with Joselu before turning Marc-Andre ter Stegen and tapping into an empty net.
Barca attempted to reclaim the lead but Sivera made excellent stops to deny Philippe Coutinho and Depay, who also hit the post after a fantastic individual run by Gavi.
Despite having the majority of possession, the hosts were obliged to accept a split of the spoils. They will look to improve their fate when they travel to Kiev and Vigo to face Dynamo Kiev and Celta Vigo, respectively, while Alaves will take their three-game unbeaten streak home to the Basque Country to face Levante next Saturday.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
