Barcelona vs. Sevilla: Final score 2-1, wide play fires Blaugrana to comeback win

David Ramos

After a poor first half performance that featured a surprising set piece goal by Sevilla, Barcelona changed things up in the second half and did well to score twice, through a couple of crosses.

La Liga continues to be a competition in which Barcelona have no challengers. The Blaugrana saved the public from potential talk of next weekend's edition of El Clasico jump-starting a Real Madrid surge by turning a late deficit into a 2-1 win. They're currently 15 points clear at the top of the table and 16 clear of Los Merengues.

A fairly uneventful second half features Barcelona looking more dangerous than Sevilla, but still executing somewhat of a repeat of their mid-week Champions League loss. They lacked creativity in their passing, and went down just before halftime hit by conceding a set piece goal. After Manu drew a free kick on the wing, Coke provided a delivery for Alberto Botia, who nodded past Victor Valdes to score against his former club.

Christian Tello replaced the ineffective Alexis Sanchez at halftime, and that move proved to be an excellent one. The first Barcelona goal of the game came in the 52nd minute, with Dani Alves finding David Villa with a cross. It wasn't a terribly Barcelona-like goal, but Villa's jump and header were well-timed and nearly impossible to stop. Tello set up the winner for Lionel Messi less than 10 minutes later, playing a low square ball for the Blaugrana's leading scorer to tap in.

Sevilla had a few half-chances to notch an equalizer, but never troubled Victor Valdes as Barcelona held on for all three points.

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