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| Sporting Gijon 0-5 Barcelona – Players Celebrate |
FC Barcelona put up another outstanding display as they saw off Sporting Gijon 5-0 at El Molinon thanks to a brace from Neymar and one goal each for Luis Suarez, Rafinha Alcantara and Arda Turan.
Barça were unlucky to get only a draw against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday after beating Leganes 5-1, the Catalans return to winning ways in style, beating a very good Sporting Gijon side 5-0 away from home to go temporarily top of the table before Real Madrid’s kickoff.
Luis Enrique started a rotational XI making 5 changes from the team that drew against Atleti with Jeremy Mathieu, Lucas Digne, Arda Turan, Andre Gomes and Rafinha Alcantara all starting in place of Javier Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic respectively.
Barça didn’t quite start the game well but got the opener after 29 minutes. Arda Turan did well to set up Luis Suarez with a beautiful pass and the Uruguayan rounded Sporting’s goalkeeper Cuellar before tapping into am empty net.
It was 2-0 three minutes later and this time Sergi Roberto was the architect. The right back fired a great cross into the box and Rafinha was on hand to pull a diving header past Cuellar.
The game ended 2-0 at halftime and Barça also made a slow start to the first half with Sporting Gijon pressing high up the pitch and testing Ter Stegen who made a good save near post to deny Victor Rodriguez. Denis Suarez and Paco Alcacer then came on for Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez respectively.
Sergi Roberto did well to force a tackle from Lora that got the player sent off after receiving his second yellow and Barça got their third on 81 minutes and it was Roberto that started the attack again. The right back made a great cross to feed Paco Alcacer whose shot was saved by Cuellar unto the bar but unfortunately for the host, Neymar was on hand to chest past the keeper and slot into an empty net.
Sergi Roberto was involved once again as he assisted Arda Turan with another great cross for the Turkish star to head home from close range and give Barça a 4-0 lead with 5 minutes to play. Neymar grabbed his brace and rounded up the scoring after firing a left footer past Cuellar, thanks to a wonderful through ball by Denis Suarez.
