Lionel Messi scored once and played his part in four more goals as Barcelona closed to within a point of Spanish La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a commanding performance to beat Athletic Bilbao 5-2 on Sunday.
The four-time FIFA World Player of the Year opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick and then teed up Luis Suarez to double the visitors’ advantage.
Mikel Rico briefly gave Bilbao hope after half-time, but Messi’s goalbound header was then turned into his own net by Oscar de Marcos before Neymar rolled home Barca’s fourth from another Messi pass.
Photo: EPA
Aritz Aduriz made it four goals in a crazy six-minute spell by pulling another goal back for Bilbao, but the hosts ended the game with 10 men after Xabier Etxeita was shown a straight red card for a horrible challenge on Suarez before Pedro Rodriguez added a fifth.
Barcelona have now won their past nine games, scoring 34 goals in the process, and will be further boosted by Real’s ragged showing in their 4-0 destruction at the hands of Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
“It is clear the team are all united and pulling in the same direction,” Suarez told Barca TV. “Players of the class of Messi and Neymar will always make the difference. I just have to enjoy playing with them.”
Messi took his tally for the season to 33 with the opener on 16 minutes, but he had a touch of fortune as his free-kick struck Aymeric Laporte in the Bilbao wall and wrong-footed goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz.
The hosts had a great chance for an instant response as Iker Muniain picked out Aduriz, but Claudio Bravo got down well to turn his effort behind.
Moments later Iraizoz made amends for his weak hand in the opener with a stunning save to prevent Suarez heading home a perfectly weighted cross from Messi.
Bravo was called into action again to parry Markel Susaeta’s well-struck free-kick, but Barcelona tore through the Bilbao defense once more after 26 minutes as Messi laid the ball into Suarez’s path for the Uruguayan to thump home his first goal in five games.
Chances continued to flow at both ends as Laporte blocked Neymar’s goalbound effort on the line, whilst Aduriz saw a header come back off the inside of the post.
Bilbao were given a lifeline on the hour mark when Rico swept home the rebound after Bravo had again denied Aduriz.
However, Barcelona responded in supreme fashion as De Marcos could only turn Messi’s header into his own net before the Argentine teed up Neymar to slot home his 23rd goal of the season.
The hosts refused to lie down as Aduriz pulled another goal back thanks to a rare Bravo error when his shot flew in at the near post.
There was no excuse for Etxeita’s horror challenge on Suarez, though, as he raked his studs down the Uruguayan’s knee, forcing the former Liverpool man to be replaced by Pedro for the closing stages.
Pedro was on hand to round off the scoring from a Sergio Busquets cross after Messi had left a host of Bilbao defenders in his wake.
Valencia moved up to fourth as they took advantage of Sevilla’s 2-1 defeat at Getafe by winning at RCD Espanyol by the same score.
Valencia went ahead midway through the second-half when Pablo Piatti prodded home Jose Gaya’s low cross.
The visitors then made the three points safe when Dani Parejo’s fine free-kick struck the post and rebounded in off unfortunate Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez, before Sergio Garcia netted a consolation for the hosts.
Sevilla suffered their second defeat in Madrid in just five days after also going down by the same 2-1 scoreline to Real Madrid on Wednesday last week.
Alvaro Vazquez gave the hosts the lead from the penalty spot and Pedro Leon bundled home the winner five minutes from time following Grzegorz Krychowiak’s stunning equalizer.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was