All good things come to an end, and after a run of twelve consecutive wins, the FC Barcelona women were held on Sunday afternoon to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis. It was a definite case of unlucky thirteen, especially after second placed Atlético Madrid had also been held to a draw this weekend, in their case at Valencia.
Yet things had started perfectly. Following a series of early chances, Olga Garcia collected the ball from what had looked like a fairly harmless throw-in, but out of nowhere produced an absolute thunderbolt from the edge of the area and Barça were already a goal to the good after 13 minutes.
Betis didn’t shoot once in the first half, and Barça could have gone further ahead had Ange Koko’s goal not been disallowed.
The second half saw the Andalusians produce a lot more danger, but it was still very much against the run of play when Paula Moreno headed home for the visitors with just under a quarter of an hour to play.
Betis seemed happy with the draw and defended intensely for what was left of the match, but even so Barça very nearly grabbed a late winner when Jennifer Hermoso's fine effort was saved.
Despite dropping their first points, the Catalans are still top of the table, with Atlético Madrid and Levante two points behind.
Attention now turns to the UEFA Champions League and the second leg of the round of 16 tie with Twente. Barça will be taking a slender 1-0 lead into that one.
