Barcelona vs Sevilla, La Liga: Final Score 1-0, Pedri’s magical winner gives

Barcelona extended their winning streak in La Liga to six games and will finish the weekend in second place in the table thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Sevilla at Camp Nou. Barça were the better team all night but had to work very hard to break down a stubborn Sevilla defense, and took home all three points thanks to a magical winning goal by Pedri.

FIRST HALF

Barça were good in the first half, with their usual brand of fast-paced attacking football under Xavi full of movement, quick passing and lots of shots on goal. The Blaugrana focused most of their attacks on the right wing, with Ousmane Dembélé heavily involved from the jump.

Sevilla mostly defended in a low block and tried to avoid major trouble, but their defense did not hold up too well and allowed quite a few good chances. Fortunately for the visitors, Barça’s attack was not at its scintillating best and wasted some really good opportunities with poor finishing and bad decision-making in the final third, and Sevilla goalkeeper Bono only had one big save to make on a shot by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang just before the final whistle of the half.

At halftime, Barça were playing well and should have been ahead but left it all to play for in the final period.

SECOND HALF

Sevilla made a very good start to the second half, sending more bodies forward and looking dangerous on the ball while also frustrating Barça’s attack with good defensive play. They never truly threatened the Barça goal but were the better team in the first 15 minutes of the period, and it felt as though they were ready to cause more problems.

But Barça didn’t let that happen and launched an absolute blitz on the visitors, with 15 minutes of truly breathtaking attacking football that completely suffocated Sevilla and left them on the ropes. Bono made three fantastic saves, Gerard Piqué hit the crossbar and Dembélé nearly scored a beautiful volley, and Barça took control of the game once again.

They still needed to find a goal, however, and it came with 20 minutes to go thanks to their best player on the night: Pedri received the ball at the edge of the box, sat down two Sevilla defenders with a couple of nasty fakes and found the bottom corner with a perfect strike. It was a sensational goal, and Barça finally had the lead they’d worked so hard for.

Sevilla never gave up and brought the pressure late on with a change of formation and several players going forward, but the Barça defense was strong and Marc-André ter Stegen was never required to make a big save.

The final whistle eventually came, and Barça are now second in the table with a game in hand over both Sevilla and Atlético Madrid who are right behind them and level on points. It’s a huge win over a very good Sevilla side, and Barça’s incredible 2022 continues. So proud of this team.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Alves, Araujo, Piqué, Alba; F. De Jong (Gavi 74’), Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé (Nico 90+1’), Aubameyang (Memphis 81’), Ferran

Goal: Pedri (72’)

Sevilla: Bono; Navas (Montiel 78’), Koundé, Carlos, Rekik (Augustinsson 82’); Jordán, Gudelj (En-Nesyri 78’); Lamela (Corona 67’), Rakitic, Ocampos; Martial (Rafa Mir 82’)

Goals: None