Barcelona prevails after two late lapses against Tottenham
Two scrappy goals in two minutes Saturday night were enough for Tottenham Hotspur FC to earn a shootout against FC Barcelona in the International Champions Cup at the Rose Bowl. But the Spanish champions emerged victorious 5-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw through 90 minutes.
With many starters absent on both sides, the signing of Arthur paid off for Barcelona. He made a debut statement with a shot from outside the box into the top corner, while Malcolm, a fellow Brazilian and recent acquisition, converted the winning spot kick.
After an early chance was fired high and a shot by Denis Suarez was fired wide, Barcelona opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Sergi Roberto crossed the ball from the left to Rafinha, who headed a pass across the face of the goal to Munir. Unmarked and two yards from the open goal, Munir easily nodded the ball into the net.
In the 29th minute, Rafinha took the ball into the box before passing to Arthur 25 yards from goal. Arthur controlled the ball with his first touch before launching a shot past Paulo Gazzaniga and into the top corner.
A previously quiet second half was livened up when — in the space of two minutes — Tottenham tied the score with a pair of finishes at the end of goalmouth scrambles.
First, Barcelona had trouble clearing Ben Davies’ cross and a rebound eventually fell directly to Son Heung-Min, who shot into the bottom corner with goalkeeper Jasper Cillissen out of position.
Then, almost straight from the kickoff, Son held up Cillissen and slipped the ball to Anthony Georgiou. His shot was blocked on the goal line, but Georges-KevinN’koudou was in the right place and tied the score.
In the shootout, the first two takers for each team converted, but Georgiou’s spot kick for Tottenham was saved.
Davinson Sanchez scored to keep the shootout alive, but Malcom sent Michel Vorm the wrong way with his penalty to secure a 5-3 shootout win.
A crowd of 66,805 was announced.
