SEVILLE, Spain (REUTERS) - Lionel Messi scored his 50th career hat-trick to fire Barcelona to a 4-2 win at Sevilla on Saturday (Feb 23) after the champions had twice fallen behind, giving the Catalans a 10-point lead at the top of La Liga.
Sevilla, who have only won once in the league in 2019, took the lead midway through the first half through veteran winger Jesus Navas but were soon pegged back by an unstoppable volley from Messi.
The home side capitalised on sleepy defending from Barca to re-take the lead before halftime as Gabriel Mercado pounced in the area.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde made two attacking changes at the start of the second period by introducing Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto and got the intended reaction when the France winger laid the ball off to Messi just inside the area and the Argentine lashed it into the top corner.
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
Luis Suarez made sure of the points by scoring deep in stoppage time, chipping Vaclik after being played through by a pass from Messi.
Barca lead the standings on 57 points after 25 games while second-placed Atletico Madrid have 47 but can reduce the gap back to seven when they host Villarreal on Sunday.
Sevilla fell to fifth, slipping out of the Champions League places behind Getafe.
MESSI DELIVERS
"Messi is decisive and superlative, every team has decisive players but we have the best in the world," said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.
"It's not just his goals either, but because he always delivers in the right place at the right time."
Sevilla had endured a humiliating 3-0 loss at struggling Villarreal last week but before the game Valverde warned of the Andalusians outstanding record at their Sanchez Pizjuan, where they had thrashed Real Madrid 3-0 and beaten Barca 2-0 in the Copa del Rey this season.
They took the lead through a lightning quick counter-attack as Wissam Ben Yedder marauded down the pitch and played in Navas, who took one touch to control and the other to slide the ball through the legs of the diving Gerard Pique and beyond the outstretched Marc-Andre ter Stegen into the bottom corner.
Sevilla's intensity prevented Barca from replicating their usual slick passing game and it took a superb goal from Messi to pull them level, the Argentine swivelling to meet a cross from Ivan Rakitic on the volley, leaving Vaclik with no chance.
Sevilla are Messi's favourite victims, and last year he came off the bench to score twice in two minutes and rescue a 2-0 draw from 2-0 down.
He went one better this time and has now scored 36 times in 37 games against the Andalusians.
"It's always tough to win here, we know what it is like to come to this stadium and how good Sevilla's players are, they made things very hard for us by taking the lead but we knew how to overcome all that," Messi added.
It was his 44th hat-trick for Barca, with 32 coming in La Liga, eight in the Champions League, three in the Copa del Rey and one in the Spanish Super Cup. He has also struck six trebles for Argentina.
If his status as one of the Amsterdam club's most exciting prospects in years did not place enough pressure on his shoulders, there is the added burden of being the son of Ajax and Barcelona
Why Dutch Clubs Sell Their Best Players - Football Oranje
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp concedes he faces a selection dilemma as centre back Dejan Lovren is unlikely to feature against Bayern Munich in Tuesday's Champions League last 16 fixture at Anfield.
Football: Liverpool's Lovren unlikely to face Bayern, says
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain shake off Champions League nightmare with 4-0 win over Dijon Marquinhos, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting score to give PSG
Investigators searching for a lost plane carrying Premier League player Emiliano Sala said on Wednesday an underwater search would begin after they found two seat cushions on the French coast that
Debris From Soccer Player Emiliano Sala's Missing Plane Found
Jurgen Klopp dismisses talk of Liverpool crumbling under
Unai Emery urges Arsenal to focus on Valencia clash Even though the spoils were shared from a memorable 1-1 draw, the Gunners gained something invaluable. Concrete evidence of their renewed
Emery urges players to learn from 'bad experience' at Anfield
Call in Iran for footballers to be punished over Japan melee during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup semi-final football match between Iran and Japan at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al-Ain on January
Call in Iran for footballers to be punished over Japan melee
PSG take charge with 2-0 win at Manchester United, Paul Pogba
"Man United, Inter, Juventus and Tottenham are clubs with strong support in the region, and we believe the fans will be happy to see them in action." AIA Group Chief Executive and President, Ng Keng Hooi, added: "AIA is proud to be the Presenting Partner of the 2019 ICC Singapore, especially during our Centennial year.
Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - Atletico Madrid v Girona - Wanda Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - April 2, 2019 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann scores their second goal REUTERS/Sergio Perez
Late strikes from Godin and Griezmann keep Atletico in title
Football: Ronaldo fit for Juventus clash with Ajax in Champions League, says Allegri Ronaldo (rear) and Alex Sandro during a walk round at Juventus Stadium on April 9, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS
Cristiano Ronaldo losing battle to be fit for Juventus
New-look Germany make promising start with Serbia draw The Germans, knocked out of the World Cup in the group stage and relegated in the Nations League last year, had only one player from their 2014 World Cup victory in the starting line-up and their oldest outfield player was aged 24.
Soccer: New-look Germany make promising start with Serbia
Araibi was a vocal critic of AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain's ruling family and cousin of the king, when he contested the FIFA presidential election in 2015. The post FIFA says in regular contact with AFC over detained refugee player appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
A lawyer for FIFA council member Mahfuza Akhter Kiron is set to file a petition in a Bangladesh court on Tuesday seeking bail for the official who has been arrested in a defamation case following
Bangladesh FIFA official arrested for 'defaming' PM Sheikh
Manchester United will have to settle for Europa League football next season after being held by a Huddersfield side who were relegated in March. Man Utd miss out on top four after draw at
Top-four spot slips out of reach for Manchester United after
0 comments:
Post a Comment