That had been coming. With the game looking increasingly like a training exercise for Barcelona and being played entirely in the Arsenal third, it was only a matter of time before Barcelona evened things up on aggregate once more. Arsenal, who had defended like lions prior to Robin van Persie being sent off shortly after their equalising goal, looked tired and completely unprepared to deal with Barcelona at their best, which is what they got when David Villa and Xavi Hernandez combined through the middle.
FC Barcelona Vs. Arsenal FC, 2011: Xavi Scores, Makes it 2-1
It was a beautiful one-two that ended up releasing Xavi, who wove his way into the penalty area and crashed a shot home past a despairing Manuel Almunia, who had to that point kept goal like a hero. The ball took a slight deflection off Bacary Sagna, who was sliding into cover, but it was probably going in no matter what. 2-1 to Barcelona and the game very much back in their hands.
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