Luuk De Jong Leads Barcelona To Win First Match In 2022

Luuk De Jong (Twitter @fcbarcelona)

JAKARTA - Barcelona started 2022 with a positive result after winning 1-0 at home to Mallorca in the match week 19 of the Spanish League at Iberostar Stadium, Sunday night.

Quoted from Antara, the only goal in the match was scored by Luuk de Jong in the first half.

The result lifted Barcelona to fifth place with 31 points, only one point behind Atletico Madrid in fourth and two points from Real Betis who sit in third place.

Meanwhile Mallorca stuck in 15th position with 20 points from 19 matches.

⏰ ¡Final del partido!

💪 #MallorcaBarça (0-1)

⚽ @LuukdeJong9

😍 ¡¡Gran victoria!! ¡Vamos!

🔵🔴 #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/ms5gc59ex2

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) January 2, 2022

Barcelona immediately controlled the ball and tried to confine Mallorca in their own playing area.

The visitors continued to dominate possession and forced Mallorca to hold on for the first 20 minutes, but Xavi's side did not pose much of a threat.

Bara's attacks only showed a real threat when the tempo began to decline. In the 29th and 30th minutes, Luuk de Jong got two good chances.

The first attempt occurred after Jutgla gave a pass to De Jong who made a move into the penalty box. The Dutch striker managed to reach and direct the ball into the goal, unfortunately, it still hit the bar.

The second attempt came through De Jong's acrobatic kick in the penalty box after receiving Mingueza's cross. However, the ball hit the post again and the score remained 0-0.

Mallorca only occasionally gets a chance on the counter-attack. Opportunities can not be used optimally, but Barcelona's defense looks not solid.

Barcelona finally scored in the 44th minute. This time Luuk de Jong was finally able to get his name on the scoreboard after his header in the penalty box nestled into Manolo Reina's goal.

The position became 1-0 for Barcelona which lasted until the first half was over.

After the break, the match restarted at the same tempo. Barcelona had the ball and tried to build attacks slowly, while Mallorca only relied on counter-attacks.

Mallorca slowly increased the intensity of their game and took the ball faster. In the 70th minute, the home team began to turn against Barcelona.

In the remaining matches, Mallorca continued to confine Barca and several times created opportunities to mature. However, no goal was created in return.

The added time of 4 minutes did not change the result of the match and the referee finally ended the match. The 1-0 score lasted for Barcelona's victory.

Lineup:

Mallorca (4-2-3-1): Manolo Reina; Jaume Costa, Martin Valjent, Franco Russo, Pablo Maffeo; Rodrigo Battaglia (84' Abdon Prats), Iddrisu Baba (61' Inigo Ruiz); Lee Kang-In (71' Javier Llabres), Dani Rodriguez, Antonio Sanchez (70' Jordi Mboula); Angel Rodriguez (61' Fer Nino).

Barcelona (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Ronald Araujo, Gerard Pique, Eric Garcia, Oscar Mingueza (76' Clement Lenglet); Nicolas Gonzalez (71' Alvaro Sanz), Frenkie De Jong, Ruqui Puig; Ilias Chakkour (80' Estanis Pedrola), Luuk De Jong, Ferran Jutgla.