Sevilla 1 Barcelona 2: Goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez see Barca close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid
BARCELONA beat Sevilla thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to keep hot on the tails of leaders Real Madrid.
In front of the cast of hit show Game of Thrones at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Sevilla took the lead after 15 minutes, when winger Vitolo raced race clear onto a ball, waiting until Marc-Andre ter Stegen came out before clipping the ball over him into the net.
While the hosts had most of the play, Barca equalised out of nowhere through Lionel Messi who scored his 27th career goal against Sevilla.
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Messi launched a counter attack from deep with a raking ball to Neymar, who slalomed past two defenders, and pulled it back to Messi, who found the corner from 20 yards out.
Sevilla dominated the first half, but it was a very different story in the second as Luis Enrique's side came out all guns blazing in the second period.
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And it was only a matter of time before they took the lead through Luis Suarez, set up by Messi who charged through the Sevilla midfield to pick the former Liverpool man out on the right of the area.
He takes a touch and fires low, inside Sevilla keeper Rico’s near post.
Former Blackburn man Steven N'Zonzi almost equalised for Sevilla, whose header bounded just wide after Ter Stegen failed to deal with an outswinging corner.
The game petered out into another Barcelona win as they closed the gap Real - and incidentally, Neymar, Messi and Suárez all got booked - a rarity.