Barcelona fought tooth and nail to return from the Mestalla Stadium with all the three points, in a game full of goals and late drama.
The Catalan giants had to rely on a last gasp penalty from Messi to emerge victorious over Valencia and go top of the Spanish table (for now). Messi broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a fine finish, beating Diego Alves at his near post from a Ivan Rakitic pass.
However, the home team reacted strongly after half time, scoring twice in quick succession through Munir El Haddadi who equalized in the 52nd minute against his former club, and then taking the lead in the 56th min via Rodrigo after Nani’s exquisite chip found the forward in the box.
Luis Suarez scored the game’s second equalizer after pouncing on Alves’s intial save from a Ivan Rakitic header that fell into the striker’s path. The match looked destined for a draw when Luis Suarez was adjudged to have been fouled by Abdennour in the penalty box in injury time. Messi stepped-up to take the penalty and duly finished the job to secure 3 points for the club.
