Express & Star

Barca restore five-point lead at summit after beating Villarreal

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored for the visitors

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Barcelona seized on the second-half dismissal of Dani Raba to beat Villarreal 2-0 and restore their five-point lead at the top of LaLiga on Sunday night.

Ernesto Valverde’s men had struggled to break down their opponents at the Estadio de la Ceramica until Raba’s dismissal on the hour for a foul on Sergio Busquets changed the course of the game.

Luis Suarez gave the visitors a 72nd-minute lead and Lionel Messi turned on the style with a brilliant second goal seven minutes from time to seal the points for the title favourites.

Tweet of the match

Star man – Lionel Messi

Moment of the match

For all the inspiration provided by Messi, it is hard to look past the sending-off of Villarreal’s Dani Raba for a foul on Sergio Busquets on the hour. At that point Villarreal looked just as likely to break the deadlock – but Barcelona ruthlessly exploited their one-man advantage to ease home in style in the final half-hour.

View from the bench

Villarreal coach Javier Calleja could be forgiven for looking over his shoulder after his side’s third LaLiga defeat in a row. Calleja’s predecessor Fran Escriba was dismissed after just six games of the season and, although Calleja can be credited with sparking a fine revival, there are signs it is grinding slowly to a halt. For Ernesto Valverde, victory was vindication of his squad rotation policy over the past week, and will restore faith in his ability to lead his side to another LaLiga title.

Ratings

Villarreal: Sergio Asenjo 7, Mario Gaspar 6, Jaume Costa 6, Victor Ruiz 5, Alvaro Gonzalez 6, Ruben Samedo 7, Roberto Soriano 8, Manuel Trigueros 6, Rodri Hernandez 7, Cedric Bakambu 6, Dani Raba 6. Subs: Samu Castillejo (for Semedo, 48) 6, Antonio Rukavina (for Soriano, 64) 5.

Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen 7, Thomas Vermaelen 6, Gerard Pique 6, Jordi Alba 8, Ivan Rakitic 7, Paulinho 6, Sergio Busquets 7, Sergi Roberto 6, Denis Suarez 6, Lionel Messi 9, Luis Suarez 7. Subs: Paco Alcacer (for Denis Suarez, 58) 7, Aleix Vidal (for Paulinho, 68) 5, Andre Gomez (for Busquets, 86) 5.

Who’s up next?

Barcelona v Deportivo La Coruna (LaLiga, December 17)

Celta Vigo v Villarreal (LaLiga, December 17)

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