Monday, August 31, 2009

Ibrahmovic off the mark for Barcelona

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ibrahimovic showed some neat touches in his first league match

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored on his Spanish league debut as Barcelona began their title defence with a comfortable 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon.

The Swede, who joined Barca from Inter Milan for £40m in the summer, had missed a number of chances, before he netted late on with a diving header.

Two first-half headers from Bojan Krkic and Seydou Keita had put Barca, who fielded a weakened side, in control.

The hosts were missing Lionel Messi, Andreas Iniesta and Thierry Henry.

New signing from Shakhtar Donetsk Dmytro Chygrynskiy also watched from the stands in Camp Nou.

The match had been put back because of Barca's European Super Cup match against Shakhtar in Monaco on Friday, which they won 1-0.

Monday's win capped an impressive start to the season for the Catalan club, following their Spanish Super Cup victory over Athletic Bilbao the previous weekend.

On Saturday, Barca's fierce rivals Real Madrid opened their league campaign with a win, securing a 3-2 home victory over Deportivo La Coruna.

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