Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Barcelona rout Huesca, go on top of La Liga standings

The thrashing lifted Barca above Real Madrid, who beat Leganes 4-1, at the top of the La Liga standings on goal difference after three games.

Lionel Messi celebrates with Luis Suarez after scoring.

Camp Nou, September 3: Barcelona's star duo of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez scored a brace each as the La Liga champions hammered promoted side Huesca 8-2 while Real Betis ended a 12-year wait for a home victory over local rivals Sevilla by winning the local derby 1-0.

Valencia are still without a win this season after being held to a 2-2 draw at neighbours Levante and Alaves came from behind to beat visiting Espanyol.

Valverde laughs off Barcelona title edge after three matches

The thrashing lifted Barca above Real Madrid, who beat Leganes 4-1, at the top of the La Liga standings on goal difference after three games.

Celta Vigo, who stunned Atletico Madrid 2-0, sit in third place at two points adrift with Atletico now five points adrift of the top after a shaky start to the campaign.

MATCH STATS | RESULTS | STANDINGS

Top-flight debutants Huesca took a shock early lead in their first league visit to the Camp Nou when Colombian forward Cucho Hernandez deflected the ball in from point-blank range but Messi soon dampened the celebrations of the visiting supporters by cannoning a shot in off the post to level.

An own goal from Jorge Pulido gave Barca the lead and Suarez extended their lead by scoring for the first time in five games in all competitions after the video assistant referee (VAR) overturned an offside call from the linesman.

Huesca's Alex Gallar pulled one back before half-time to make it 3-2 but any hope of a revival from the visitors was soon killed off by three Barca goals in 11 minutes from Ousmane Dembele, Ivan Rakitic and another strike from Messi.

Jordi Alba capped a brilliant performance to score the seventh after setting up two of the earlier goals, while Suarez added number eight with a penalty in stoppage time as Messi turned down the chance to complete a hat-trick.

We were sleeping at the start of the game but their goal helped wake us up and we reacted well," Suarez said.

Barca had also put eight goals past Huesca in their last meeting at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey in an 8-1 win in 2014, while this was their biggest win in the league since thumping Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 away from home in April, 2016.

Meanwhile 37-year-old Joaquin became the oldest scorer in a Seville top-flight derby when he rose to head home at the near post in the 79th minute, shortly after the visitors had had midfielder Roque Mesa sent off for two bookings.

Betis went into the derby under pressure after taking only a point from their first two games and made an intense start as Cristian Tello and Loren went close to scoring while Sergio Canales had a goal ruled out for offside.

Sevilla nearly scored through Franco Vazquez and Gabriel Mercado but handed their rivals an extra man advantage when Mesa was booked for fouling goalkeeper Pau Lopez, and Joaquin took full advantage to the delight of the 60,000 supporters inside the packed Benito Villamarin stadium.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Story first published: Monday, September 3, 2018, 11:36 [IST]
Other articles published on Sep 3, 2018