Messi Strikes Late To Keep Barcelona On 37 Matches Unbeaten In LaLiga

Barcelona 's unbeaten run in La Liga has stretched to 37 matches thanks to a dramatic 2-2 draw with Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday night.
The Catalan club were heading for their first league loss under Ernesto Valverde after Franco Vazquez and Luis Muriel put the hosts two goals ahead, only for Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi to hit back in the final two minutes.
Barca, who played an hour without the benched Messi, could still see their lead at the top of the table reduced to nine points if Atletico Madrid beat relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday night.
A goalkeeping error gave Andres Iniesta a chance to open the scoring for the visitors early on, but the Spanish midfielder could only loft the ball wide of the target.
Some nice play saw Jordi Alba played in behind soon after, though Suarez failed to convert from the cutback and momentum was soon with the home side.
Muriel mistimed his jump when attempting to convert a corner at the back post, while Angel Correa should have done better when picked out by Jesus Navas inside the box.
Sevilla were deservedly ahead 36 minutes in, though, as Correa exchanged passes with Sergio Escudero and rolled the ball into the path of the unmarked Vazquez to guide it past Marc Andre-ter Stegen .
Gerard Pique wasted a chance to get Barca on level terms with his mishit at the end of the first half, and that miss would prove even more costly as Sevilla doubled their tally soon after the restart.
Escudero was allowed to drift into the box and power a shot on target for Ter Stegen to block, with Muriel well positioned to convert the rebound via a touch from Samuel Umtiti .
Los Rojiblancos should have been out of sight on the hour as Navas hesitated when through on goal to be denied by Pique, and then Vazquez smashed the loose ball into the side-netting.
Valverde turned to Messi for the final half an hour and the impact was almost instant, as he soon fed the ball through for Philippe Coutinho and Alba, the latter of whom could only pick out the side-netting.
Barca were beginning to turn the screw but Sevilla, now with just one win in 22 league meetings with the Catalans, had chances of their own with Navas volleying low on target to force Ter Stegen into another stop.
Then came the crazy conclusion to the match as Suarez volleyed Paco Alcacer's knockdown into the roof of the net and, 60 seconds or so later, Messi swept the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to maintain Barcelona's unbeaten run.

Credit: SportsMole