Barcelona initiated the year 2024 with a hard-fought victory on Thursday night, overcoming Las Palmas 2-1, thanks to Ilkay Gundogan’s 93rd-minute penalty in La Liga.
Former Barça forward Munir El Haddadi gave Las Palmas an early advantage, maintaining control until Ferran Torres secured a fortunate equalizer early in the second half. Despite a sluggish start, Barcelona clinched the win when Gundogan, initially denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity, successfully converted the subsequent penalty.
Vitor Roque, making his Barcelona debut following a €61m transfer from Athletico Paranaense, missed a golden opportunity to mark his start with a goal.
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The outcome ensures that Barcelona, currently occupying the third spot in the table, stays within striking distance of Real Madrid and Girona, who won their respective fixtures 24 hours earlier, with a seven-point gap to close.
In the early stages, Barça faced a defensive reshuffle due to an injury to Joao Cancelo, resulting in Jules Kounde moving to right-back and Andreas Christensen filling the gap in the center. However, Las Palmas took the lead shortly afterward, capitalizing on a well-worked play that found Munir on the receiving end of Sandro Ramirez’s low cross.
Despite possessing more possession, Barcelona struggled to create opportunities in the first half. Sandro tested Inaki Pena with a low shot, and Javier Munoz and Sandro both posed threats, with the latter hitting the post.
At halftime, Barcelona had failed to register a single shot, and the front-three appeared largely ineffective. The midfield also struggled to assert control.
Fortunately, Barcelona displayed improved performance after halftime. Raphinha, in particular, looked sharp, testing the goalkeeper with the first shot and hitting the post (albeit offside) before Torres equalized in a scrappy manner. The momentum shifted in favor of Barcelona, although Las Palmas had a chance to reclaim the lead with a header from Mika Marmol at a corner.
The breakthrough for Barcelona finally came when Joao Felix’s shot was parried, and Gundogan, poised to score from the rebound, was pushed off balance by Daley Sinkgraven. Despite protests from Las Palmas, Sinkgraven was sent off, and Gundogan calmly secured the victory.
In the remaining time, Barcelona had an opportunity to score a third goal, but Roque missed an open goal, firing wide.