Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Javier Mascherano on first Barcelona goal: Difficult not to take penalty

Javier Mascherano has said the insistence of his teammates and the Camp Nou crowd left him with little choice but to take the penalty which led to his first ever Barcelona goal on Wednesday.

Mascherano scored the sixth goal in Barca's 7-1 La Liga win over Osasuna, ending a run of seven years and 318 games without a goal for his club.

The Argentina international had previously scored eight goals, including five for his country, but his wait for a club goal dated back to Liverpool's 3-1 against Unirea Urziceni in the UEFA Cup on Feb. 25 2010.

"It's nothing [scoring my first goal]," he told beIN after the game, trying to play down the hysteria his goal had generated among not just the home supporters, but his teammates, too.

"I just took it as something anecdotal, more a show of affection [from my teammates] than anything else. At first I tried to get out of it, but under pressure from my teammates and the crowd I decided to take it on.

"It would have been a fun moment to remember in years to come had I missed it. I wasn't sure about it at all, honestly, but it was difficult to say no."

Luis Enrique preferred to focus on Mascherano's other qualities, such as the way he makes the team better, rather than get carried away with the "anecdote" of the 32-year-old's first Barca goal.

And Mascherano played up to that tag, continuing: "I know that this is a team sport. Each person has their role and mine is not to score goals, I'm clear on that.

"The important thing is the win. After what the team did at the Bernabeu [winning 3-2], we had to keep the pressure on [Real] Madrid at the top of the table."

In the absence of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic had originally collected the ball when the penalty was awarded for a foul on Denis Suarez, before eventually handing over the responsibility to Mascherano.

Barca boss Luis Enrique felt it was the pressure from the signing section behind the Camp Nou goal which led to that decision, but Rakitic revealed it was Gerard Pique who convinced him to hand the ball over.

"I wanted to take [the penalty], but Pique said to let Mascherano take it and he was right, everyone in the stadium wanted him to take it -- and you have to listen to the president [Pique]!" the Croatia midfielder said.

Messi, who was off the pitch by the time Mascherano scored, Paco Alcacer and Andre Gomes all scored twice to complete the Blaugrana's seven-goal win, keeping them ahead of Madrid at the top of the league due to their superior head-to-head record.

Luis Enrique's side travel to Espanyol for the Catalan derby this weekend while Madrid, who still have a game in hand, host Valencia.

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