Barca earns draw with late Henry goal

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04/25/2009 - Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thierry Henry's goal with five minutes to play allowed Barcelona to earn a 2-2 draw with Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday.

Barca took the lead 24 minutes into the match through Lionel Messi, but Valencia scored twice in the final three minutes of the first half to claim a 2-1 lead at the break.

However, Henry picked up a loose ball inside the box after a failed clearance attempt by Valencia goalkeeper Cesar, and his deflected effort made its way across the goal line.

The result leaves Barca seven points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, but a Real win over Sevilla on Sunday would close the gap to four points, with the two Spanish giants set to meet on May 3.

Valencia remains in fourth place, one point behind third-placed Sevilla.

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes was the first to be called into action in the 18th minute when he was forced to get down and stop David Villa's free kick, but it was Cesar that was first to pick the ball out of his own goal.

Messi exchanged passes with Andres Iniesta inside the area, and after Cesar came off his line to challenge Iniesta, he slipped the ball back to Messi to slam into the empty net.

It was a neat piece of play from Barca's talented duo, but the rest of the half belonged to the home side, who had a penalty appeal turned down five minutes after Messi's goal.

Valencia looked increasingly threatening as the first half wore on, and they nearly leveled the match when Carlos Marchena floated a long ball over the top for David Silva, whose looping header forced Valdes to tip the ball over the crossbar.

It was a good save from the Barca keeper, but it was his mistake on the ensuing corner kick that handed Valencia the equalizer.

The ball was whipped into the six-yard box and Valdes attempted to claim it, but he collided with defender Carles Puyol, allowing the ball to slip through and hit off of Hedwiges Maduro and roll into the back of the net.

There was nothing Valdes could do two minutes later as Pablo and Mata worked a nice one-two outside the box, with Pablo pushing the ball between two Barca defenders and firing into the bottom right corner.

The hosts took the momentum into halftime, but the pace of the match slowed considerably in the second half.

Henry was able to get a few shots on goal, but nothing that seriously threatened the Valencia net.

The home side didn't get a good look at goal in the second half until the 74th minute, when Mata fired wide of the near post from inside the box.

However, a free kick with five minutes to play handed the visitors another chance and they made the most of it.

The ball was played into the middle of the box for Sergi Busquets and Cesar came off his line to punch it clear. The keeper nearly collided with the Barca player and didn't get enough on his clearance, and the ball ended up on the foot of Henry, whose deflected effort ended up in the back of the net.

Almeria kept Numancia on the bottom of the table with a 2-1 win while Malaga could have jumped into the top five but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Deportivo.

Albert Luque put Malaga in front in the 33rd minute but his opener was canceled out by Sergio.

Malaga was then given a penalty kick with two minutes to play, but goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia saved Apono's spot kick.

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