Struggling Barcelona slump to defeat at Rayo
Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal will find himself under further pressure after his side were handed a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Rayo Vallecano in a tense encounter in the Spanish first division on Saturday.
Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal will find himself under further pressure after his side were handed a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Rayo Vallecano in a tense encounter in the Spanish first division on Saturday.
Rayo, who had taken just one point from their previous six outings, snatched their third win of the season when midfielder Jorge Azkoitia clipped the ball home midway through the second half.
Barcelona have now gone four games without a win and, despite their fine form in the Champions League , Dutch coach Van Gaal is certain to face a renewed barrage of criticism from the club's discontented fans.
Earlier on Saturday, an out-of-sorts Deportivo Coruna were held to a 1-1 draw at bottom club Recreativo Huelva in a disappointing encounter at the Colombino stadium.
Raul Molina gave Recreativo a shock lead on 22 minutes after he turned sharply to fire home under goalkeeper Juanmi, but Spain striker Diego Tristan levelled five minutes later when he cracked home with a fine 20-metre drive.
The struggling Andalucians were reduced to 10 men in the 80th minute when substitute Xisco was sent off for a reckless challenge on Victor, but they managed to hold out with little difficulty against a below-par Deportivo.
After a shaky start Barcelona took control of their match at Rayo as Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme began to settle in the midfield.
The former Boca Juniors player supplied Patrick Kluivert with the first clear chance on 16 minutes, but Rayo goalkeeper Imanol Etxeberria pulled off an acrobatic save to tip the Dutchman's fierce shot over the bar.
Riquelme then went close when he skimmed the post with a bobbling shot after turning Russian defender Viktor Onopko on the edge of the area and the Argentine then combined again with Kluivert to set up the best chance of the half.
The Dutchman raced through onto Riquelme's lofted pass, but then drifted too wide and only succeeded in sending his shot into the side netting.
But Barcelona lost their way after the break as Rayo continued to hound them in midfield and defended in numbers.
Fernando Vazquez's side then took advantage of one of their few scoring chances to snatch the lead on 66 minutes for the modest Madrid side.
Lanky centre-forward Jon Perez Bolo nodded a long-distance goal kick into the path of Azkoitia and the midfielder fended off Dutch defender Frank de Boer before clipping the ball past goalkeeper Roberto Bonano to secure a surprise victory.