La Liga: Neymar, Luis Suarez carry Barcelona to comfortable 3-0 win over Villareal
Barcelona, who are still without talisman Lionel Messi, seem to be doing just fine courtesy the attacking brilliance of Luis Suarez and Neymar. The duo helped Barcelona overcome the dangerous Villareal quite comfortably with the Brazilian scoring two goals and the Uruguayan scoring once to win the tie 3-0.
While Villarreal came into the match hoping to end their 14 match winless streak against the Catalans, during which time they had lost 11 times and drawn thrice, they had to return home with the tally increasing to 15 winless games. The match also saw Neymar become the top scorer of La Liga with 11 goals and Suarez ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo with nine goals.
Squad:
Villareal: Areola; Mario, Bonera, Ruiz, Costa, Dos Santos, Pina, Bruno, Samu Castillejo, Suarez, Soldado. Subs: Jokic, Samu, Trigueros, Bakambu, Rukavina, Barbosa, Nahuel.
Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Pique, Mathieu, Alba, Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Iniesta, Munir, Neymar, Suarez. Subs: Ter Stegen, Bartra, Sandro, Adriano, Vermaelen, Samper, Gumbau.
First Half
The games started off pretty slow with both teams stopping the opposition from getting into threatening positions. Villareal’s back line was doing a good job of frustrating the opposition as they weren't letting the ball get into areas that could have troubled them.
Both teams did not have many shots on target but did come close to getting the lead on a few occasions. At half time whistle, both teams went into the dressing rooms scoreless and having performed equally well.
Second Half
Luis Enrique definitely changed a few things during the half time as the Catalans put on a more dominating performance. Neymar scored the first goal of the game after an error from the Villareal defence. Bruno Soriano of Villareal sent a stray pass to Sergio Busquets who quickly passed it on to the Brazilian to finish.
Almost 10 minutes later the home side doubled their lead from a penalty after their youngster Munir was taken down inside the box. Luis Suarez who stepped up to take the penalty easily finished it after sending the opposition goalkeeper the wrong way.
While Barcelona’s victory seemed imminent, Neymar finished off the game in style as he scored one of the best goals of the season to make the scoreline 3-0. The former-Santos player flicked the ball over the center back, spun180-degrees and slammed the ball past the goalkeeper into the back of the right-hand corner of the net to seal their victory.
Barcelona still had to wait until Real Madrid and Sevilla play later in the night, to determine if they will be going into El Classico as the league leaders or the joint league leaders with Los Blancos.