The Barça women’s wonderful start to the season continued on Saturday with a 2-0 defeat of Valencia thanks to goals from Toni Duggan and Alexia Putellas.
That’s six wins out of six for the blaugrana, and leaves them and Atlético Madrid flying ahead of the rest of the pack in the Liga table, with third placed Levante already nine points adrift of the top.
But Valencia proved a hard side to break down. The few real chances early on came to nothing, and it was eventually a fabulous strike from Duggan, bouncing into the net off the crossbar, that got the blaugrana a goal to the good.
The England international’s goal inspired Barça to move things up a notch, and with a little more finesse up front, they could have been leading by two or three. Valencia were so focused on defence that they barely left their own half, and it was the Catalans that were in full command of the middle of the field.
But the second goal just wouldn’t come until a fine cross was picked up by Alexia, and here composed finish as good as marked the end of the game. Valencia never looked like coming back.
It was a fine win, but just a warmer for the huge trip to Atlético Madrid next weekend. It’s just the seventh game of the league season, but it’s one that could have a huge bearing on the outcome of the whole competition. Força Barça!
