Barcelona 5-0 Espanyol: 5 talking points
League leaders Barcelona tightened their grip on the Spanish title with a comfortable 5-0 victory over local rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou.
La Liga’s top scorer Luis Suarez struck twice on the day, taking his tally to 37 league goals for the season. Forwards Lionel Messi and Neymar, along with substitute Rafinha also got on the scoresheet, with each of them finding the back of the net once.
Espanyol never really looked like they were going to put up a fight. The Blanquiazules had no one else to blame but themselves as they committed defensive errors time and again, which essentially put the game beyond their reach.
Here are five talking points from the game:
MSN back at it again
Barcelona’s attacking trio showed everyone why they are the best in the world yet again. Luis Suarez continued his stellar run as he scored twice and set up Neymar for the fifth goal of the game. The Uruguayan now leads Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo by 4 goals in the race for the Pichichi award.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring with an early goal, a brilliantly curled free-kick from just outside the box into the top corner. More goals came in the second half as Suarez struck twice within a span of ten minutes. Substitute Rafinha scored a minute after he came on, and Neymar bagged a late goal to complete the rout.
The three linked up well in crucial areas. Towards the end of the game, Suarez had a clear chance to score, but the Uruguayan unselfishly chose to pass the ball to Neymar instead, who made no mistake as he slotted the ball home.