Barcelona 3-0 Eibar: Luis Suarez liquidates Basques with emphatic display
The Uruguayan scored twice and Leo Messi once as Barca moved five clear again at the top
Another game, another landmark. Lionel Messi hit his 400th La Liga goal as Barca thrashed Eibar to go five points clear at the top of La Liga.
FCB
3 ________________ 0
EIB
LINE UP
FC Barcelona
Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (Semedo, min. 82), Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Busquets (Arturo Vidal, min. 65) Rakitic, Arthur (Dembélé, min. 70); Messi (c), Coutinho y Luis Suárez.
SD Eibar
Riesgo (c); Peña, Arbilla, Bigas, Cote; Escalante (Kike García, min. 76), Diop; Orellana, Jordán, Cucurella (De Blasis, min. 63) y Sergi Enrich (Marc Cardona, min. 82).
Goles
1-0, min. 18: Luis Suárez, a pase de Coutinho. 2-0, min. 53: Messi, a pase de Luis Suárez. 3-0, min. 58: Luis Suárez aprovecha un rápido saque de banda de Sergi Roberto.
Árbitro
Gil Manzano (comité extremeño). Amonestó con cartulina amarilla a Sergi Enrich (min. 41), Luis Suárez (min. 44) y Piqué (min. 70).
Incidencias
Partido de la 19ª jornada de LaLiga Santander, disputado en el Camp Nou ante 71.039 espectadores. El equipo de hockey patines del Barcelona ofreció la Copa Continental e Intercontinenal al público antes del partido.
Atletico Madrid’s win over Levante earlier on Sunday had reduced their lead to two points but Ernesto Valverde’s men showed no signs of feeling the pressure as they blew away the Basque minnows.
The coach brought Philippe Coutinho back into the side after recent criticism of his form and the Brazilian took the chance with both hands.
Barcelona broke the deadlock when Coutinho fed Suarez, who finished with aplomb inside the far post with a curling effort.
Dominating the play but not creating too many more openings in the first half, Barcelona set about trying to add to their lead in the second period, which they duly did.
Suarez and Coutinho were involved again but it was Messi who finished it off, stroking home after beating a defender.
It was his 400th La Liga goal in 435 games, a new landmark figure for the competition’s top scorer of all time.
Suarez should have added another but Asier Riesgo did well to keep out his header from close range.
The Uruguayan did find the net minutes later though, fed by Sergi Roberto he finished neatly from an angle on the right. Too easy.
