Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport

Espanyol 0 Barcelona 4: Lionel Messi nets stunning free kick double in derby thrashing

Messi's special double saw off city rivals. (Picture: Getty Images)

Barcelona remain at the top of La Liga after thrashing Espanyol in the derbi barceloní.

Lionel Messi scored two outstanding free kicks with Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez also on the score sheet.

Barcelona went into the weekend as the La Liga leaders with 28 points with Sevilla missing the opportunity to move top after being held to a draw by Valencia earlier on Saturday.

Espanyol’s resistance was broken after just 17 minutes when Messi, who won the free kick himself, curled a superb left-footed shot past Diego Lopez and into the goalkeeper's top-left corner.

Messi turned provider for his side’s second, finding Dembele who dropped a shoulder to deceive his marker before bending his own excellent effort into the far corner.

Barcelona back to the summit in Spain. (AFP/Getty Images)

Suarez made it three just before the half-time whistle with Messi producing another moment of magic with 25 minutes of the contest remaining.

While he was a little further out than his first effort the result was the same - finding the top corner with another outrageous effort to take his tally for the season up to 17.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.