Athletic Club 2-3 Barcelona: Messi hits two with Pedri also on target

Athletic Club 2-3 Barcelona: Messi hits two with Pedri also on target

Athletic suffer defeat against Barça
Athletic suffer defeat against Barça | sport

Ronald Koeman's team made it seven unbeaten in La Liga as they moved third

Barcelona produced their best performance in La Liga this season as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 to move up to third in La Liga this season. 

Coach Ronald Koeman's only complaint was that it wasn't more comfortable on another night when Lionel Messi and Pedri stole the show. 

Pedri equalised in the 15th minute after Athletic took an early lead through Iñaki Williams and then turned provider, producing a fine backheel to set up Messi to make it 2-1 before the break. 

Messi made it three after the break and Barca could have scored more before Iker Muniain set up a nervy final few minutes with a late consolation goal. 

But Koeman's side saw out the game to make it seven games unbeaten in the league as they continued to move up the table. 

Granada are next up on Sunday away from Camp Nou in a fixture they lost that season under Ernesto Valverde. 

Athletic made a dream start under new coach Marcelino on Wednesday when Williams raced clear after Barca lost the ball to open the scoring in the third minute. 

The home side hit the side netting with another counter before Barca took control. 

Messi's fine pass was brilliantly turned back across goal by Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who missed two chances at the weekend, headed in the leveller. 

Pedri and Messi then linked brilliantly for the Argentine to roll in Barca's second and hand them the lead before the break. 

Messi added the third after good work from Antoine Griezmann but then gave the ball away in the 90th minute as Muniain scored a brilliant goal. 

But Barça's performance was good overall and there was also another important contribution from Ousmane Dembele, who looks undroppable on current form. 

On another night, Messi would have scored four. He hit the woodwork twice and had a third goal ruled out for a marginal offside call.

Barça are still seven points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and have played two games more but with Messi in this form and players around him stepping up they look set to keep fighting for the title.

Technical card:
Athletic Bilbao:Unai Simon, Ander Capa, Unai Nunez, Inigo Martinez, Yuri Berchiche (Mikel Balenziaga, min.32), Oscar De Marcos (Alex Berenguer, min.67), Unai Vencedor, Mikel Vesga (Dani Garcia, min.65), Iker Muniain, Raul Garcia (Jon Morcillo, min.80) and Inaki Williams
Barcelona:Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Sergino Dest (Oscar Mingueza, min.75), Ronald Araujo, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Pedri, Frenkie De Jong, Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele (Martin Braithwaite, min.75), Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi
Stadium:San Mames
Goals:Inaki Williams (1-0, min. 3), Pedri (1-1, min. 14), Lionel Messi (1-2, min. 38), Lionel Messi (1-3, min. 62) and Iker Muniain (2-3, min. 90)

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