LUIS SUAREZ AND Lionel Messi scored late goals again to move Barcelona to within touching distance of the title, as they beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 at Camp Nou to open an 11-point lead at LaLiga’s summit.
Although Atletico, who had Diego Costa sent off in the first half, looked set to hang on to a draw, Barca’s dominance ultimately paid off as Suarez and then Messi struck late in the day as they did against Villarreal on Wednesday to land what is surely a fatal blow in the race for title.
Barca edged a tense first half, which saw Costa given a straight red card in the 28th minute for berating referee Jesus Gil Manzano, though they were unable to turn their superiority into a lead.
Atletico weathered the storm for most of the second period as well, with Jan Oblak producing an inspired performance, but he was finally beaten twice in the last five minutes as Messi claimed a record-breaking 335th LaLiga victory.
After a cagey opening, a moment of Messi inspiration opened the Atletico defence for the first time in the 14th minute, but the post came to Oblak’s rescue after Jordi Alba collected the lofted pass.
| GOAL! |
— Eleven Sports (@ElevenSports_UK) April 6, 2019
Two in two minutes for Barcelona!
And obviously, it's Lionel Messi who gets on the scoresheet... #BarcaAtleti pic.twitter.com/SAN3CbQnVW
Atletico’s task became even trickier less than a minute later when Costa was given his marching orders for dissent, seemingly fuming at not getting a free-kick after a tussle with Messi.
Barca were dominant in the second half, with Messi testing Oblak from distance in the 56th minute, before the goalkeeper made an even better stop to thwart Suarez when one-on-one.
Oblak was finally beaten five minutes from time, however, as Suarez’s gorgeous curling effort from just outside the penalty area found the bottom-right corner.
And Barca’s second followed soon after – Messi riding a challenge from Jose Gimenez in the box and tucking a disguised effort inside the right-hand post to spark noisy celebrations at Camp Nou.
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Cooney was a bit part player when he joined Ulster now look at him.
@Drew Walsh: He’s won more European Cups than Best
@JoeO: Allan Clarke won the HCup playing hooker at Ulster, doesn’t make him a better hooker in Ulsters history. Rugby is a team sport so trophies cannot be used to measure individual players.
@Drew Walsh: He was the backup 9 behind Marmion for the Pro 12 champions when he signed, hardly bit part.
I genuinely think eric o suillivan can start ahead of him if eric really pushes himself
@Eoin Murphy: his scrummaging will need to come on to do that. Leinster got 3 points of the back of a scrum pen on his side. They also got out of the corner when Stockdale dropped the ball with a scrum pen on his side. Not knocking the kid he can do it, but he has work ons
@RabidHorizon: to be fair he was up against argubly the best TH in the world but you have a good point
Sad to see him go, quality player when fit but he just wasnt moving healy. His form has dipped since the lions tour and was behind Ed byrne in the pecking order in recent weeks.
But there’s some serious prospects at Leinster coming through that can develop their game like Thomas clarkson & Michael Milne. It’ll be between Byrne, Dooley & Bent fighting it out for a bench spot behind healy. Imo Byrnes better than Dooley. Bent will probably retire or move on next season
@Harry O’Callaghan: Can’t see Bent going anywhere yet. He’ll be too important next season with Furlong and Porter gone for long periods. And Porter hasn’t shown himself up to being a solid starter at TH if Furlong was to go down with an injury they’d struggle.
@Eddie Hekenui: Porter is more than capable of holding his own. He’s still relatively new to tighthead, but even already at such a young age he’s leapfrogged John Ryan to be Irelands 2nd choice tighthead. They also have Vakh Abaladze & Jack Aungier coming through, so hopefully they’ll get more game time this year
@Harry O’Callaghan: Porter is a fine option off the bench and had a great performance against Wales last year in the Six Nations but the amount of starts he’s got for Leinster in the last 2 seasons would point to them not being quite sure he’s ready to start big games just yet. And while Abdaladze and Aungier are very talented players Leinster aren’t going to start the season with just the two of them available while Furlong and Porter are at the WC.
And it’s debatable if Porter has leapfrogged Ryan as Ireland’s 2nd choice TH. They’ve split appearances this season so it’d seem that they’re pretty neck and neck.
@Harry O’Callaghan: Porter is a fine option off the bench and had a great performance against Wales last year in the Six Nations but the amount of starts he’s got for Leinster in the last 2 seasons would point to them not being quite sure he’s ready to start big games just yet. And while Abdaladze and Aungier are very talented players Leinster aren’t going to start the season with just the two of them available while Furlong and Porter are at the WC.
And it’s debatable if Porter has leapfrogged Ryan as Ireland’s 2nd choice TH. They’ve split appearances this season so it’d seem that they’re pretty neck and neck.
@Eddie Hekenui: He’s hardly going to be starting while Furlongs fit though? But whenever he has started, he’s been brilliant. He’s so new to tighthead, but even already look where he is at. He’s just naturally talented. And o my going to get better, will Ryan get better…I doubt it. He’ll be 31 in August. Abaladze has already gotten some game time for the senior team this year which is a huge plus.
@Harry O’Callaghan: And what of the 6 games this season that he’s been on the bench while Bent started to go with 5 last season. Porter’s starts this season have come against the Dragon’s x2, Zebre and Ulster which aren’t exactly the most dangerous of scrums. I don’t doubt his natural talent or how good he could be but we’re talking about the here and now. If the Heineken Cup final is tomorrow and Furlong is injured who do you think starts at TH? For me it’s Bent.
And anyway my original point was Bent will be at Leinster next season which he undoubtedly will unless you think they’re going to start the season with two TH’s with a combined 90 minutes of professional rugby under their belts. Do you think they’ll do that?
@Harry O’Callaghan: And what of the 6 games this season that he’s been on the bench while Bent started to go with 5 last season. Porter’s starts this season have come against the Dragon’s x2, Zebre and Ulster which aren’t exactly the most dangerous of scrums. I don’t doubt his natural talent or how good he could be but we’re talking about the here and now. If the Heineken Cup final is tomorrow and Furlong is injured who do you think starts at TH? For me it’s Bent.
And anyway my original point was Bent will be at Leinster next season which he undoubtedly will unless you think they’re going to start the season with two TH’s with a combined 90 minutes of professional rugby under their belts. Do you think they’ll do that?
@Eddie Hekenui: Why isn’t Bent in the national side then if you rate him more highly than Porter? He probably will be there next season, considering the lack of game time the other two have.
@Harry O’Callaghan: Well for one thing try as I might my opinion doesn’t count for anything when it comes to the national squad selection. And even then I wouldn’t have him in the squad ahead of Porter who’s a fantastic option off the bench. But if there was a important match to start I’d go for Ryan who, while not being a better player than Porter, is a far superior scrummager at the moment.
@Eddie Hekenui: Is that why he was picked for only 2 games, and Porter was picked for 3 games. Arguably Ireland’s toughest tests…England, Wales & Scotland?
@Harry O’Callaghan: Again Porter is a fantastic TH to have of the bench because of how dynamic he is but there is a difference between being the bench TH and 2nd choice TH. World Cup tomorrow who starts for Ireland if Furlong is injured? I reckon it’s Ryan. When Furlong was rested in Australia who got the start? Ryan
@Eddie Hekenui:
Disagree with that it will be Porter who will be number 2 under TF :: Ryan works hard but will always be a bench player where Porter will take over from TF when needed…………….
The vibes are good for the future.
No more sand kicked in the faces of our front row.
Four quality props
@Mark Smith: He is a great player and a superb addition to Ulster. I love the way Best referred to Jack McGrath as a “British Lion” above :)
@grandslamkbo: Best should know better and I’m sure McGrath wouldn’t be too pleased to be called a British lion.
Charles Piutau was no bit player but he just didn’t fit, seems to be more about finding someone who fits.
@Peter Brophy: he means the ones that had to be cleared out recently like Ah You, Herron, Herbst and Shalk VdM. Piutau actually did very well at Ulster and carried the backline at times.
@Kingshu: Ah You was terrible
I think that (esp when Grant joins next year) as a whole the Ulster Coaching ticket will be the strongest out of all the provinces. The others have good coaches as well but there are some weaker coaches as where, there isnt a weak link in the Ulster coaching ticket. Over all as a coaching team Ulsters would be strongest. Which is a fantastic starting point for building a team. Year one has been better than we could have hoped, already excited about year two.
Ulster seem to have all their ducks in a row no messing around with Coaches coming in mid season nice depth in the pack .
@rugbyanbeer: the change of CEO i believe has influenced that. We’re not making big statements about where we’ll be in 5 years time whilst, at the same time, flying by the seat of our pants. We’re keeping a lid on things whilst planning / recruiting well ahead of time.
@Andrew Adams: Its very positive onwards and upwards .Methinks the feel good factor had Rory putting off his retirement the old war horse wants an Ulster trophy
It’s becoming clear that gym fitness is not enough for a prop and while a big roster needed to cover injuries the big roster doesn’t help with on field time. One for the exercise physiologists.