Barcelona 1-0 Valencia: Luis Suarez sends Valverde's side to brink of cup final
The Uruguayan struck in the 66th minute with a diving header from Messi's cross
Luis Suarez continued his goalscoring streak as he fired Barcelona to the brink of the Copa del Rey final, heading home in the 66th mintue to help his side beat a defensive Valencia.
FCB
1 ________________ 0
VCF
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FC Barcelona
Cillessen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Aleix Vidal (m. 58 Coutinho), Rakitic (m. 68 Paulinho), Busquets, Iniesta (c) (m. 72 Paco Alcácer); Messi y Suárez.
Valencia CF
Jaume Doménech; Montoya, Gabriel Paulista, Rubén Vezo, Gayà; Carlos Soler (m.76 Ferran Torres), Parejo (c), Coquelin, Andreas Pereira (m. 46 Maksimovic); Rodrigo (m.81. Santi Mina) y Vietto.
Gol
1-0, m. 67. Suárez. De cabeza, desde dentro del área, después de un centro de Messi desde la línea de fondo. Gayá, bajo palos, llegó a tocar el balón con la mano izquierda, aunque no pudo impedir que llegara al fondo de la red.
Árbitro
José María Sánchez Martínez (murciano). Mostró tarjetas amarillas a Sergi Roberto (m. 35) por una entrada con el pie en forma de plancha sobre Andreas Pereira, a Andreas Pereira (m. 39) por 'barrer' a Messi, a Vietto (m. 51) por protestar y pedir amonestación a Aleix Vidal tras una entrada sobre Coquelin y a Carlos Soler (m. 53) por derribar a Iniesta.
Incidencias
Partido correspondiente a la ida de las semifinales de la Copa del Rey 2017-18 disputado en el Camp Nou (21.30 h) ante 50.959 espectadores.
The Uruguayan hitman nodded home Messi's sensational chipped assist, in a game Barcelona dominated, albeit without creating many clear chances.
Valencia played deep and defensive, especially in the first half, and Barcelona found it hard to break them down. At the other end Dani Parejo stung Jasper Cillessen's fingertips and Samuel Umtiti was at his very best to stifle attacks.
Messi and Alba took the initiative on the left, working their way in and the Argentine scooped a ball across for Suarez to dive in and head home to break the deadlock.
The 29-time cup winners are aiming to lift the trophy for the fourth season running and take an advantage to Mestalla for next week's second leg.
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