FC Barcelona beats the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1: Recap and Video Highlights

The Los Angeles Galaxy hosted Spanish club FC Barcelona in Saturday night at the Rose Bowl in a friendly. The match drew over 90,000 fans was nationally televised. Here’s a full recap and video highlights of the match.

FC Barcelona beats Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1  - Video Highlights

Spanish club Barcelona edged the Galaxy 2-1 after a 2nd half goal from Suarez at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. FC Barcelona came out with more possession and chances as the Galaxy were unable to keep up. Barca’s pressure led to the first goal as the Galaxy defense looked a step slow and flat footed. A through ball was nearly scored by Messi but Saunders came out to block it but the rebound came to Pedro who scored for a 1-0 lead. The first half was dominated by Barcelona who had almost all of the possession and scoring chances. The Galaxy looked unable to match the skill and short passing that has made Barcelona one of the best teams in the world. Each time the MLS side did get possession they were unable to hold the ball for long and frequently gave it right back to Barca.

One of the lone chances for LA came on the counterattack and Donovan used his speed and had a shot that was deflected as it was going on goal. The play resulted in a corner for the Galaxy and a few chances including a Beckham cross that Dunivant shot have finished for a header goal as he was completely unmarked in front of goal. Unfortunately for LA they weren’t able to convert and would rarely see any more chances in the first half. Just as the Galaxy looked dead in the water, David Beckham had a free kick just outside the box with a chance to tie the match as Barcelona still led 1-1 with a few minutes left in the first half. Beckham stepped up and hit a perfect free kick curling high into the corner that tied the game as the first half would end at 1-1.

The second half was more even as Barcelona subbed out 10 players at halftime. Barcelona scored the game winner with a goal from Jeffren Suarez in the 67th minute. It was a decent performance from the Galaxy but overall they were clearly outmatched from the start. If Barcelona had kept their top players in the 2nd half (like Messi) the score could have easily been 3-1 or 4-1. Barcelona will take on the Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday.

FC Barcelona (1-0-0) vs. Los Angeles Galaxy (0-1-0)
August 01, 2009 — Rose Bowl

Scoring Summary:
FCB — Pedro Rodriguez 1 (unassisted) 11
LA — David Beckham 1 (unassisted) 45
FCB — Jeffren Suarez 1 (Sergio Busquets ) 67

FC Barcelona — Jose Manuel Pinto (Victor Valdes 46), Marc Muniesa (Carlos Puyol 46), Maxwell Andrade (Xavi Hernandez 46), Rafael Marquez (Adriano Henrique 30) (Gerard Pique 60), Daniel Alves (Eidur Gudjohnsen 46), Seydou Keita (Andreu Fontas 46), Toure Yaya (Thierry Henry 46), Jonathan Dos Santos (Sergio Busquets 46), Lionel Messi (Jeffren Suarez 46), Krkic Bojan (Eric Abidal 46), Pedro Rodriguez (Victor Sanchez 46).

Substitutes Not Used:

Los Angeles Galaxy — Josh Saunders, A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Tony Sanneh (Gregg Berhalter 46), Todd Dunivant (Leonard Griffin 84), Landon Donovan, David Beckham (Mike Magee 87), Christopher Birchall (Chris Klein 46), Stefani Miglioranzi (Dema Kovalenko 66), Eddie Lewis (Bryan Jordan 77), Jovan Kirovski (Alan Gordon 46) (Kyle Patterson 88),

Substitutes Not Used: Tristan Bowen, Kevin Guppy, Yohance Marshall

	Los Angeles Galaxy		FC Barcelona
total shots:	9	(Landon Donovan 3)	15	(Jeffren Suarez 3)
shots on goal:	3	(3 tied with 1)	7	(Pedro Rodriguez 2, Jeffren Suarez 2)
fouls:	10	(Stefani Miglioranzi 5)	10	(Eric Abidal 3)
offsides:	0		7	(Eidur Gudjohnsen 4)
corner kicks:	4	(David Beckham 2)	5	(Xavi Hernandez 2)
saves:	5	(Josh Saunders 5)	2	(Jose Manuel Pinto 1, Victor Valdes 1)

Misconduct Summary:
FCB — Toure Yaya (caution; Dissent) 44
LA — Alan Gordon (caution; Reckless Tackle) 54

referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland; Corey Rockwell
4th official: Ramon Hernandez
time of game: 1:53
attendance: 93,137
weather: Sunny -and- 80 degrees

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