Lionel Messi 69th-Minute penalty extended Barcelona La Liga lead over bitter rivals Real Madrid after defeating the struggling Leganes (2-0)
Lionel Messi converted a 69th-minute penalty as his side Barcelona defeated struggling Leganes in a two-goal affair.
The Spanish league defending champions Tuesday beat Leganes 2-0 courtesy of goals from Ansu Fati and Messi to extend their lead to five points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.
In a match without fans, Leganes were playing with ten behind the ball. Ansu Fati opened the scoring in the first half before Messi put the scoreline far from Leganes reach midway the second half.
Leganés had the two best chances in the first 15 minutes with one chance blocked by defender Clément Lenglet in front of the goal line and another denied by the post.
Barcelona eventually took full control and opened the scoring through Fati’s low shot from inside the area in the 42nd. Messi converted a 69th-minute penalty to extend his La Liga goal tally to 21 as the league’s leading top scorer.
The goal also meant that the prominent Barca man has now scored 699 goals for both club and country. On Saturday, Messi also scored as his side Barcelona returned to action with a four-nil win over struggling Mallorca in the first fixture in more than three months following the coronavirus pandemic.
Things got even easier for Barcelona as the game approached the closing minutes with Antoine Griezmann having a goal disallowed in the 64th after video review ruled that Nelson Semedo was offside before delivering a cross to the French forward.
Meanwhile, Luis Suárez also got a chance to have a feel of the pitch yet again after recovering from knee surgery when he came off the bench in the 54th minute to replace youngster, Ansu Fati.
This was the first time in years for Barcelona to host a match at the Camp Nou without fans with a similar incident the last happening in October 2017 amid the Catalonia separatist movement when the Laliga champions defeated Las Palmas 3-0 in a game played the same day of a controversial independence vote that the Spanish government deemed unconstitutional.
Despite the absence of spectators, the Camp Nou was designed with placed banners and mosaics in the stands to honour those affected by the virus. Videos sent by fans were shown at the stadium, and music by local violoncellists was played during the moment of silence observed before the match in memory of all those that succumbed to the virus.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will visit inform Sevilla on Friday. Sevilla defeated Real Betis by 2-0 in their first game since return following the coronavirus outbreak.
Elsewhere, Getafe and Espanyol played to a goalless draw neither side could find the back of the net. Relatively, Villarreal made it two wins in two games beating Mallorca by a goal to nil.
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