Suarez saves Barca with late equaliser
Barcelona, January 29
Barcelona’s title hopes were dented as they drew 1-1 at Real Betis on Sunday in a game shrouded in controversy after the champions were denied a goal despite the ball clearly crossing the line.
Alex Alegria gave Betis a deserved lead in the 75th minute after the home side had hit the woodwork twice in quick succession although Luis Suarez salvaged a point by arrowing home Lionel Messi’s through ball in the 90th.
Before the equaliser Barca were incensed when a cross from Aleix Vidal was deflected towards goal and appeared to cross the line by around a metre before Aissa Mandi scrambled the ball away. Unlike in the Premier League, there is no goalline technology in La Liga.
Vidal also had a shot cleared away in the goalmouth moments later. Betis striker Ruben Castro missed a gilt-edged chance to seal an unlikely win but failed to beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen after racing through on goal unchallenged.
There was no time after Suarez’s leveller for the champions to find a winner, with the draw halting their five-game winning streak in all competitions. Barca are second in the standings, one point behind Real Madrid who have two games in hand, and level on points with Sevilla.
With a testing King’s Cup semifinal first leg at Atletico Madrid coming up on Wednesday, Luis Enrique rotated his squad and left regular starters Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba and Javier Mascherano out, while Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta were still injured. — Reuters
FA Cup: City, Chelsea ease through
london: Fourth-tier Wycombe Wanderers, 70 places below Tottenham in the English pyramid, were minutes away from a genuine giantkilling away win over Premier League title hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur but lost a thriller 4-3 in the FA Cup fourth-round. Arsenal made light of a touchline ban for manager Arsene Wenger as Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick and Danny Welbeck struck twice in a 5-0 hammering of League Cup finalists Southampton while in the day’s other all-Premier League duel Manchester City outclassed Crystal Palace 3-0. Premier League leaders Chelsea breezed past second-tier Brentford 4-0.
