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“How?” was the reaction of everyone in the stands who witnessed Barcelona’s French central defender Jeremy Mathieu score his first goal for the Catalan side from a stunning free-kick, giving his side a 1-0 lead during their Copa del Rey tie against Elche.
31-year-old Mathieu, who had joined Luis Enrique’s side last summer as a replacement for retiring Carles Puyol, has been a regular starter this season, but a goal of this degree is absolutely going to boost his confidence.
The former Valencia defender opened the scoring in the 21st minute of the match after he found his way past Manu Herrera from 25 yards out. This was his debut goal in the Barcelona shirt, and also his first in the Spanish Cup.
While their arch-rivals Real Madrid were knocked out of the tournament following a 4-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid on aggregate, Barcelona enjoyed a rather comfortable night against Elche despite playing six of their reserve team players, easing past the recently promoted team in 2013/14 with a 9-0 scoreline with Sergi Roberto, Pedro and Adriano Correia adding up to the goalscorer’s list.
Watch all the goals here:
