Football
ESPN staff 9y

Barcelona cruise past Levante in second half, Sevilla suffer Celta defeat

Lionel Messi scored two goals as Barcelona blitzed Levante to start the second half on their way to a 4-1 win at Camp Nou. The victory puts the Catalans back in first place in the league, having won all four of their matches so far this season.

The visitors frustrated Barca for the first 45 minutes, despite the hosts dominating possession and shots on goal. Marc Bartra scored the first of his team's three goals in the 50th minute, followed by a Neymar strike in the 56th and a Lionel Messi penalty kick in the 61st.

Victor Casadesus pulled one back for Levante, just three minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 63rd minute, but the deficit was too much to overcome for the 16th placed team in La Liga.

Messi had another chance to add to Barca's lead when he drew a penalty in the 75th minute, but his attempt from the spot sailed over the crossbar.

The Barcelona talisman made no mistake about his next chance though, slicing through the Levante defence to score in the 90th minute and seal the victory for his team.

Luis Suarez did not start the match for Barcelona for the first time all season. He was an unused substitute on the night.

Sevilla's miserable start to the Primera Division rolled on as they were beaten 2-1 at home by high-flying Celta Vigo.

Goals from Nolito and Daniel Wass gave the visitors a two-goal cushion at half-time, while Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Sevilla early in the second period to bring Unai Emery's side back into the game.

Celta had young full-back Jonny Castro dismissed in injury time for picking up a second yellow card, but there was no time left for Sevilla to take advantage, and they remain on two points from four matches, sitting in the relegation zone.

Eduardo Berrizo's side meanwhile compensated for throwing away a two-goal lead against Las Palmas last week to pick up a third win, and they move on to 10 points and into the top four.

Villarreal enjoyed a familiar story of success after notching up their third 3-1 victory in a row to keep themselves level on points with Real Madrid in the table.

Athletic Bilbao were the victims this time, following on from Espanyol and Granada, and the Basque side was never in the match against the Yellow Submarine at El Madrigal.

The early departure of striker Cedric Bakambu, injured after 15 minutes, could have unsettled Villarreal but they took it in their stride and substitute Leo Baptistao, on loan from Atletico Madrid, proved a thorn in the visitors' side.

Javi Guerra's first goal for Rayo Vallecano kick-started their campaign as they registered a first win by beating Las Palmas 1-0.

Guerra, who joined Los Franjirrojos as a free agent on transfer deadline day, converted Roberto Trashorras' pass four minutes before the break and that proved the decisive moment of the match.

Although the scoreline represents a narrow victory for Vallecano, they created a stack of chances throughout the game as Adrian Embarba, Guerra and Bebe all had opportunities to make their evening more comfortable.

Sporting Gijon picked up their first win of the season by seeing off local rivals Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 in a thrilling game at Riazor.

Roma loanee Antonio Sanabria scored twice in the opening eight minutes to get the visitors off to a fantastic start, but the Galicians fought their way back through goals by Juanfran and Luis Alberto, only for Alex Menendez to restore Sporting's lead 11 minutes before the break.

Deportivo dominated the second half but were unable to find another equaliser, although Lucas Perez struck the woodwork and Alberto saw a curling shot go narrowly wide.

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