Paco Alcácer Proves Unlikely Hero For Barca Who Restore Four Point Title Lead
Barcelona confirmed their 10th win in their opening 11 La Liga games this season with a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday evening inside a rain-sodden fairly fan sparse, but politically strong Camo Nou.
A brace coming either side of half-time from surprise inclusion Paco Alcacer, who made just his second start of the season and his first since the opening day of the campaign, was enough to counteract Guido Pizarro's second-half bullet header and extend the Catalonian's home record to 17 consecutive wins.
The lightning that filled the dramatic skies over the footballing amphitheatre simply added to Barca's electric performance on the pitch, which went some way to remind the remainder of the Spanish top-flight just how strong they are this season.
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It was a bright opening from the hosts, with the greasy, lush surface adding the extra zip into Barcelona's high-tempo passing.
With a mind-boggling speed of build-up play the Catalonian giants wasted little time in putting their opponents under pressure, with Alcacer and Luis Suarez both forcing saves from Sevilla goalkeeper David Soria inside the opening 10 minutes.
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But as the half ticked on the visitors made fine work in frustrating the La Liga leaders, providing a defensive answer for everything Ernesto Valverde's side could throw at them and even fashioning a rare opportunity themselves, with Luis Muriel's blaze over the bar a particular warning of the Champions League side's attacking threat.
However, Barcelona's intense opening pressure finally told moments before the 25 minute mark, as Alcacer was on hand to sweep up a costly defensive error from Sevilla, which could well have been down to the monsoon-like conditions which were battering the Camp Nou.
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Suarez, as Barca had been attempting since the first whistle, played a lofted pass over the top towards the path of Alcacer, who was joined in his pursuit by visitors captain Sergio Escudero.
It looked as though the chip in-behind just lacked the legs to trouble Los Nervionenses, however a slightly misjudged defensive clearance from the left-back gifted the Spain international striker the opportunity to simply slide the ball past onrushing Soria to give the Catalonians the lead.
As the entertaining clash approached half-time, it was Barcelona again in control, and even though Lionel Messi's outstanding intricate play, on his 600th appearance for the club, simply screamed out for the simplest of touches to put the hosts out of sight, the first-half ended with the Catalans holding a slender lead.
As the second-half got underway it was clear to see Sevilla were planning to adopt a more expansive gameplan than Eduardo Berizzo had implemented in the first. The visitors enjoyed their first consistent spell in the opposition half in the opening moments, however lacked the clinicalness to really cut open the Barca defence.
That was until moments before the hour mark, as Pizarro's emphatic header drew the scores level again as the Argentine latched from a beautifully in-swinging corner.
The move initially started as Muriel seemed to offer fellow attacking teammate Pablo Sarabia a glorious opportunity to grab the equaliser, however the 25-year-old's hesitation in preparation of unleashing his effort allowed hosts defender Nelson Cabral Semedo to make an important block to send the ball behind.
But from the resulting set-piece the Sevillistas Los Rojiblancos got back on level terms, as Pizarro's bullet head from the dangerously whipped cross flew past the statue-like Marc-Andre ter Stegen and secured the midfielder's first goal in Spanish football.
However, Sevilla's lead was short lived, as less than five minutes later the hosts were back in front, again thanks to surprise inclusion Alcacer.
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The visitors gifted Ivan Rakitic too much space and time on the right-hand side, allowing the Swiss-born Croatia international to pick out the front-post run of the former Valencia man, who directed his first-time effort past the helpless Soria to restore his side's one-goal advantage.
As the clash skipped towards full-time Sevilla persisted in their attempts to find their way back into the game, fashioning a number of half-chances with well-crafted build-up play.
However, their efforts came to no avail, and referee José González González's whistle following four additional minutes signalled Barca reclaiming their four-point lead at the top of La Liga heading into the upcoming international break.
