Video Barcelona 4 - 2 Mallorca : Barca pass Mallorca test

 
Pedro bagged a brace and Thierry Henry scored his first goal of the season as Barcelona cruised to a routine 4-2 win at home to Mallorca.
Barca began the day a point ahead of fierce rivals Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Division.
The Catalans took to the field two hours before Madrid's derby clash at city rivals Atletico, in the knowledge a win would keep them top for another week, regardless of what happened in the capital.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola sprung several surprises as he left Xavi, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves out of the starting line-up for this match.
Their absence from the first XI meant a start for the in-form Pedro on the right and another chance for the misfiring Henry on the left, while Sergio Busquets came in alongside Yaya Toure and Seydou Keita in midfield and captain Carles Puyol was switched from central defence to right-back.
Even without four of their best players, this was still an impressive line-up.
And they were ahead within 12 minutes as Pedro latched onto Zlatan Ibrahimovic's sublime back-heeled pass and slotted the ball underneath Dudu Aouate.
The Tenerife-born forward almost got in again two minutes later when Aouate failed to hold Henry's fierce drive but the Israel keeper gathered at the second attempt.
At the other end, Jose Luis Marti blasted over the bar with a speculative effort.
Pierre Webo, who scored the only goal as Mallorca maintained their perfect home record with a 1-0 win over Racing Santander last weekend, then missed a great chance to equalise.
The Cameroon forward flashed a low, angled drive towards goal but Victor Valdes was equal to it and Barca remained in front.
But the Catalans' lead was gone a minute later when Gerard Pique could only flick Marti's corner into the path of the unmarked Nunes, who headed home from close range to silence the Nou Camp.
Barca struggled to find their rhythm after the goal and Mallorca were a match for their more illustrious rivals in the next 20 minutes.
But Barca struck a double blow before half-time to effectively end the islanders' hopes of taking anything from this match.
Aouate saved three times in quick succession from Pedro, Henry and Busquets but could do nothing to prevent the former from crashing home at the fourth time of asking five minutes before the break.
It was Pedro's second of the night and his eighth goal of the season.
Those goals have come in five different competitions, a feat not previously achieved by any other Barcelona player in history.
Henry, meanwhile, has been having a poor season by his standards and had yet to score in any competition prior to this match.
But that changed just before half-time, when the Frenchman intervened with an opportunist header to divert Busquets' effort past Aouate following Pedro's free-kick.
Messi replaced Pedro six minutes into the second half, while Xavi came on for Busquets shortly afterwards.
The hosts were cruising now, though, and the game lost its intensity until the final 10 minutes, when the introduction of Iniesta for Henry appeared to spark the Catalans back into life.
Iniesta set up Ibrahimovic with a fine pass but the Sweden striker fired into the side netting.
Messi then blasted over the bar from close range but was presented with a great chance to get on the scoresheet moments later after Josemi brought down Ibrahimovic and the referee awarded a penalty to Barcelona.
The Argentina winger sent Aouate the wrong way to make it 4-1 and, even though substitute Alhassane Keita grabbed a second for Mallorca at the death, it turned out to be a routine win for Barcelona.