Madrid: Luis Suarez ended his goal drought with a brace as Barcelona won 3-0 against Leganes to build a commanding 11-point lead over arch rivals Real and Atletico, here Saturday. The other goal was scored by substitute Paulinho, who had come on to the pitch in place of Andres Iniesta, in added on time. It was Barca’s 11th La Liga win in 12 games this season.
The match, however, never rose to any great heights with both sides at times indulging in meaningless passing football on the middle third of the pitch. However, Suarez, must have been happy with his show Saturday in spite of being booked though not for a fault of his own. The yellow card means Suarez will miss next week’s crucial game against Valencia who are in second in the La Liga table, seven points behind Barcelona.
The Uruguayan broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark pouncing on a mistake committed by the opposition defence. He doubled the lead 30 minutes later with a volley after Jordi Alba’s attempt had been blocked by Leganes goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar.
Suarez had last scored for the club October 14, but insisted that the goal drought did not worry him. “I was not worried about scoring, too experienced to feel that. However, we have a big lead and we have to maintain it. That is why scoring was important,” he said after the game.
The third goal came when Lionel Messi, who had a poor outing, still managed to carve open the Leganes defence and Paulinho swept the ball home.
Agencies
