[ad_1]
Lionel Messi equaled Pelé’s all-time record of 643 goals for a club and Barcelona lost the most points with a 2-2 draw against Valencia at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Valencia went ahead with a header from Mouctar Diakhaby in the 29th minute, but Messi brought Barça up to par in injury time in the first half.
Referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández signaled the point and issued a red card to Valencia captain José Gaya after a push on Antoine Griezmann in the area. However, after consulting with the VAR, he lowered the card to yellow.
Messi went ahead but saw his penalty stopped by goalkeeper Jaume Domenech. Valencia could not clear and Messi was on hand to finish off his historic goal from close range. Pelé scored 643 goals for the Brazilian Santos before a brief and memorable stint with the New York Cosmos.
0:56
Janusz Michallik tries to put into words how incredible Lionel Messi has been for Barcelona.
Barça took the lead after 52 minutes, thanks to an acrobatic shot by Ronald Araujo, but the locals were delayed in the 69th minute when Maxi Gómez tied for Valencia.
The result leaves Ronald Koeman’s team eight points behind leaders Atlético de Madrid, who have played one game less.
“It was a tough game, we turned it around, but then we had to show more concentration,” Koeman said after the game.
“We had a few chances, but we weren’t focused enough on the key moments. We went out to win the game in the second half, but we didn’t create as much as we wanted.”
The Dutch coach was particularly upset about the way his team failed to pick up Diakhaby for the opening goal, saying they needed to focus more on the defensive organization due to their short average height.
“We have to know how many high plays we have to defend against tall players. [Diakhaby] he was completely alone when he jumped in to score. We have to defend better and score our rivals more. We are smaller than most teams and we have set pieces problems, “he said.
“We made an inconsistent performance. We attacked when we were 2-1 up but we also have to remember to defend. We lost the ball in dangerous areas.”
However, he refused to exclude his team from the title race.
“The age of the players also influences, sometimes doubts can arise. Young players need to mature,” he said.
“We have not yet said goodbye to the title, there are still many points to play. It is a very difficult season but in two months everything could be different. We have to fight to regain these points.”
Koeman has put his faith in several young players this season such as Pedri, Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest and Araujo, but said the team’s lack of experience was affecting his results.
“We are bitter because we really wanted the three points, it is a real shame they tied,” said striker Araujo after the match.
“We made some mistakes in defense that we can’t afford to make and it’s very frustrating because we had a lot of opportunities but the ball wouldn’t go in.”
Information from Reuters was used in this report
