Graham Hansen's imbalance knocks down Granada's defensive wall

Saint Joan DespiBarça sweated profusely to secure a new victory in the Liga F. The 'blaugranes', who found a defensive wall in front of them, had to wait until the second half to find the imbalance from Caroline Graham Hansen, who generated all three goals and led Pere Romeu's team in the triumph against Granada (3-0).

Destiny had it that the Barça women's team would once again wear a special jersey against Granada. If last season the 'blaugranes' wore the Play logo by Ed Sheeran—one of Spotify's initiatives—in the 2-0 victory against the Andalusian side, this year it was the turn of the American artist Tyler, the Creator and his brand Golf Wang (GOLF).

And as if it were all written, both matches had a fairly similar script. After a first half of absolute dominance by Barça, the goal finally arrived in the second. The Catalans, who tried in every possible way, needed Graham Hansen—who came on in the second half—to find the imbalance and steer the match.

Granada, just as Pere Romeu expected, set up a match to defend and hold the 0-0 for as long as possible. With a 5-4-1, which Real Sociedad already used last week, Adrián Martín managed to cover all possible spaces and complicate life for the 'blaugranes'. The Granada coach claimed an alleged assault by Irene Paredes on Jenni López, but the referee—after viewing the action on the screen—considered that there was nothing punishable. The two players would meet again in the second half in an action where Pere Romeu would call for a penalty on the Basque center-back. After a long review, the referee did not signal it.

The visiting goalkeeper, Laura Sánchez, was one of the great protagonists of the match and managed to prevent goals from Renee Van Asten, Aitana Bonmatí, and Sydney Schertenleib. But far from despairing, the 'blaugranes' kept trying, aware that the goal had to arrive sooner or later. And so it was. Graham Hansen put in a cross that Ewa Pajor could not finish, but Esmee Brugts, taking advantage of one of the few actions where the Andalusian defense did not clear the ball, put her foot in to break the deadlock.

Barça needed it, as once they score the first one they usually free themselves up. In fact, it didn't take long for the 2-0 to arrive. Patri Guijarro threaded a great pass to Graham Hansen, who didn't forgive, bringing absolute calm to the Johan Cruyff stadium, which once again saw a poor turnout due to the match time and the price, among other reasons. The Norwegian winger also participated in the 3-0 after taking a corner to the near post, where Tere Mérida scored an own goal.