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Antoine Griezmann ended his goal drought for Barcelona in some style on Saturday against Alaves at the Mendizorrotza Stadium in La Liga.
The Frenchman headed into the match without having managed a single goal or assist for the Catalan giants in 2020-21 but got off the mark in the second half to level the scores.
Griezmann pounced on a loose ball and then produced a superb finish to dink the ball over goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco and make it 1-1.
GRIEZMANN! 🇫🇷
The Frenchman takes advantage of the now 10-man Alaves to score off this chip to make it 1-1.
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The World Cup winner scored again on 70 minutes for the visitors but saw his effort disallowed correctly for offside.
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Neto’s Halloween Horror Show
Barcelona had gone behind in the first half after an awful mix-up in defense between Gerard Pique and goalkeeper Neto. The center-back’s pass back to the Brazilian wasn’t great, but Neto’s poor touch allowed Luis Rioja to steal in and tuck the ball home.
😳 That’s embarrassing!
Pique gives the pass to Neto and the goalkeeper makes a blunder of it to allow Luis Rioja to score with ease and gives Alaves a 1-0 lead over Barca.
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Ronald Koeman’s side struggled to respond to going behind against an organized Alaves side and looked a far cry from the side that beat Juventus so comfortably in the Champions League in midweek.
The Dutch coach made his displeasure at his team’s performance clear at half-time by making a triple substitution. Miralem Pjanic, Pedri, and Francisco Trincao came on for Sergio Busquets, Clement Lenglet, and Ousmane Dembele. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong dropped into defense alongside Pique for the second match running.
Barcelona Boosted By Red Card
Barca looked far brighter after half-time and the game turned when Alaves midfielder Jota was sent off early in the second half. The 29-year-old was handed a second yellow card for a high challenge on Pique.
The visitors profited almost immediately from the hosts going a man down. Ansu Fati’s challenge saw the ball break loose for Griezmann to equalize and put Koeman’s side right back into the game.
Koeman made further changes in the second half as his side went in search of a winning goal. Sergino Dest replaced Jordi Alba for the final 20 minutes, while striker Martin Braithwaite was also introduced for Ansu Fati.
Barcelona pushed hard for a winner in the closing stages with goalkeeper Pacheco making strong saves from Dest and Pjanic. Messi also managed to put the ball in the back of the net but again his effort was ruled out for offside.
The draw ends a run of two straight defeats for Barcelona in La Liga but leaves Koeman’s side eight points behind leaders Real Madrid already although they have played they do have a game in hand on their fierce rivals.
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