Messi, Afellay ensure win in Romania

Posted Sunday, August 12, 2012 by ESPNSTAR.com

Lionel Messi and Ibrahim Afellay scored in Barcelona's final pre-season friendly win against Dinamo Bucharest at the Arena Nationala on Saturday night.

Messi scored within four minutes of the start as he picked up a pass inside the penalty box and lashed it low towards goal.

Affelay's goal came with the final attack of the game and had a touch of the Argentinean's fondness for the spectacular as he got on the end of a through-ball by Javier Mascherano and chipped the ball over an onrushing Kristijan Naumovski.

The match also saw David Villa make his return from injury but it was Messi who had the chance to score Barca's second minutes after the opener as he was picked out by a cross from the left by Alexis Sanchez, only to blaze the chance over the bar.

After another attempt from a narrow angle by the Argentina international, Dinamo kicked into gear and Boubacar Mansaly saw his shot deflected away for a corner in the 31st minute.

In the second half, Afellay was brought on and saw his shot blocked by a diving Cristian Pulhac and he went close again eight minutes before the end as a swerving long-distance shot was punched away by the Macedonian keeper.

This followed a decent chance for the Romanian side as defender Marius Tucudean connected well with a corner but Victor Valdes was ready to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Substitute Andres Iniesta also tried to score from the edge of the 18-yard box but his audacious lob ended up on the roof of the net.

But Afellay made no mistake in the 92nd minute as he got on the end of a nicely-weighted lob by Mascherano and dinked the ball over the keeper and ensured a comfortable win for the Catalan side ahead of their opening La Liga fixture against Real Sociedad on August 19.