Mata penalty sees Barcelona fail to take advantage of Madrid loss

Barcelona missed out on the chance to go joint top of the La Liga table after losing 1-0 away to Getafe in what was a very poor performance by Ronald Koeman's men. A controversial 56th minute penalty scored by Jaime Mata after Frenkie De Jong was adjudged to have fouled Djene was the difference between the two sides.

Despite having little time to prepare for the fixture and a Champions League game to come in midweek, the defeat will hurt even more given that Real Madrid were beaten 0-1 by Cadiz just a few hours earlier. For Getafe, the three points see them go joint top of the league with Real Madrid, Cadiz and Granada, proof that Getafe will be a force to be reckoned with once again this term.

The game was competitive early on and Getafe had the first clear chance in the 18th minute after Maksimovic was played in by Cucho Hernandez and he was denied by keeper Neto. Just two minutes later, Leo Messi struck a post in what was the away side's best chance of the first half. That was after great play by the youngster Pedri. 

Just after the midway point, Barca began to pick up while both sides grew frustrated with an inconsistent refereeing display. Pique and Mata were cautioned for making minimal contact on opponents with their arms while Pedri was rightly booked. But the biggest moment of controversy came when Allan Nyom elbowed Messi in the face just before the interval and inexplicably got away without a card. 

 

October 17, 2020

Barca continued to threaten and Griezmann inexplicably fired over when he was one on one on the half hour mark while Messi ended the half frustrated with referee Cesar Soto Grado. He was forced to take a free-kick when the wall was quite clearly not 10 yards away. 

The second half was a different story. Barcelona did next to nothing going forward and even though Getafe did little themselves, they struck in the 56th minute. Djene went down in the area as Frenkie de Jong went for the ball. It seemed the Getafe man put himself in front of his opponent to force the contact, but a penalty was awarded and not overturned by VAR. Jaime Mata sent Neto the wrong way from 12 yards and Barca had to respond. 

However, Barca never woke up. Despite bringing on the likes of Ansu Fati and Coutinho, little changed. A Pique header over from a Pique free-kick and an Ansu Fati shot wide were the closest the Catalans came.

In fact, it was very nearly 2-0 seven minutes from time when Cucho Hernandez was sent clean through on goal, but the Barca keeper tipped his strike onto the crossbar. Cucho then had an even clearer chance six minutes later, but he hit well over the goal. 

At the other end, Messi fired wide in stoppage time and there was time for one last bit of late drama when Sergino Dest's cross was turned by Djene onto his own post, but barring that scare, Pepe Bordalas' men were very comfortable. Barca were unable to break down Getafe's solid defence, they missed out on the chance to go joint top and they have a lot to think about ahead of the Clasico next Saturday. First though, a Champions League clash with Ferencvaros awaits.