Agence France-Presse
Madrid, Jan 7: A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona reacted from the shock of conceding early to edge towards the Copa del Rey quarterfinals with a 4-1 win over nine-man Espanyol at the Camp Nou. Only last week, Espanyol had held Barca to a goalless draw.
They threatened an upset early on through Felipe Caicedo’s composed finish. Yet, Messi took just four minutes to restore parity before blasting a stunning free-kick in off the underside of the bar just before half time.
The Argentine teed up Gerard Pique for a third and then Neymar for a sensational volleyed finish two minutes from time to hand Barca a commanding advantage ahead of the second leg January 13.
However, Messi was lucky to escape without being seriously injured after being violently stamped on by Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez without any action taken by the officials before Hernan Perez and Papakouli Diop were dismissed.
Arda Turan was handed his Barca debut after joining from Atletico Madrid in July as the Catalans’ year-long ban on registering new players came to an end Monday.
But the night did not belong to Turan as Messi completely overshadowed others. A wonderful through ball from Andres Iniesta saw Messi dinking it expertly over the opposition goalkeeper to restore parity for Barca in the 13th minute. And there was little the keeper could do to stop a bullet of a free-kick from 30 yards.
Brilliant passes from Iniesta and Messi then teed up Pique for an easy finish to all but kill the tie off. Neymar also made the visitors pay after they were reduced to nine men when he volleyed home first time from Messi’s scooped pass.
“When he’s (Messi) in this mood, there is nothing that you can do,” Barca coach Luis Enrique said after the game. “The opposition turns helpless, but for us it is sublime, a heavenly feeling. He has this ability to turn a match on its head.
Elsewhere, Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick as Gary Neville enjoyed just his second win in seven games in charge of Valencia with a 4-0 thrashing of Granada.“We are going in the right direction and our confidence are sky high,” said Neville.
