The Brazil international scored two late goals after
coming on as a second-half subsitute to prevent his team from dropping
points, after a profligate display
A late Neymar double salvaged a 2-0 La Liga win for wasteful Barcelona over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Luis Enrique's side enjoyed long spells of unrelenting pressure and
produced some fine football, but Barca almost put themselves in a
difficult situation after spurning a host of chances.
Athletic goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz proved a difficult obstacle,
denying Munir El Haddadi on several occasions and thwarting Pedro early
on.
The visitors hardly troubled Claudio Bravo at the other end and they
rarely looked like picking up a first La Liga win at Camp Nou since
November 2001.
Barca's woes in front of goal continued early in the second period.
However, the introduction of Neymar from the bench provided a much
needed spark in attack and he broke the deadlock 12 minutes from the
end.
The Brazil international wrapped up the win a few moments later to
secure a comfortable triumph, consigning Athletic to an 11th successive
league defeat at Camp Nou.
Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde suggested in the build-up that his
side's only hope at Camp Nou would rest upon making their hosts
"uncomfortable" and his players responded well to the rallying call.
Benat forced Bravo into action with less than two minutes played, as
the former Real Betis star found space in the left side of the area and
shot across goal.
It did not take long for Barca to wake up, though.
The hosts produced a fine free-flowing move down the right in the
fifth minute and, after Martin Montoya's cut-back, Pedro fired a
first-time effort straight at Iraizoz.
Barca's superiority continued to grow and Munir should have done better with 19 minutes on the clock.
Fresh from making his Spain debut on Monday, Munir puzzled the
Athletic defence with a jinking run and, after creating space for
himself, the 19-year-old blazed over from the edge of the area.
Barcelona unsurprisingly dominated possession in the first half and carved through Athletic at will.
They were kept at bay by some desperate defending just before the
break, though, as Aymeric Laporte produced a fine block to halt a Lionel
Messi shot and then Iraizoz denied Munir from point-blank range.
Barca began the second half with similar fervour and gave the Athletic backline numerous difficulties.
Munir saw a 50th-minute effort chalked off for being offside, but
Luis Enrique's men continued to pile on the pressure and Iraizoz kept
Athletic in the game twice more before the hour mark.
Iraizoz first got down to parry Jordi Alba's low effort away and
then, with 59 minutes played, Munir saw his header easily stopped after a
clever cross from the left-back.
Barca's wastefulness continued into the final half hour, but Neymar's arrival proved a masterstoke from Luis Enrique.
The Brazilian darted into space left by Oscar De Marcos and coolly
slotted under Iraizoz to give Barca a deserved lead 12 minutes from the
end.
The victory was wrapped up five minutes later as Neymar benefitted
from Messi's excellent run down the right, before placing an effort into
the bottom right.
Good
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