Suarez inspires Barca to win at Granada in Messi's absence

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Luis Suarez rose to the challenge that Lionel Messi's absence provided by powering Barcelona to a hard-fought 4-1 win at struggling Granada on Sunday to keep up the champions' pursuit of La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

Suarez inspires Barca to win at Granada in Messi's absence

(Reuters)





The Uruguay striker scored Barca's opener with a classy lob in the 44th minute and provided assists for Paco Alcacer and Ivan Rakitic to seal the points after the home side surprisingly drew level early in the second half through Jeremie Boga.

Neymar added extra shine to the victory with his 100th goal for Barca by knocking in a cross from Alcacer in added time.

Barca are second on 66 points, two behind Real Madrid who beat Alaves 3-0 earlier on Sunday and have a game in hand.

La Liga top scorer Messi was suspended for Barca's trip to the picturesque Andalusian city, where they clinched the title last season, and coach Luis Enrique took a risk by resting regulars Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Samuel Umtiti before losing Rafinha to injury in the 17th minute.

The visitors dominated but took 44 minutes to open the scoring when Suarez calmly chipped Jordi Alba's sumptuous through ball over goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to finally get the better of the Mexican.

Boga grabbed an equaliser five minutes after the break for second-bottom Granada and Luis Enrique's rotations suddenly looked misguided before Suarez got them out of jail.

He teed up Alcacer in the 64th and then provided a pass to Rakitic which was deflected in off Matthieu Saunier just after Granada's Uche Agbo was sent off for a second booking.

Neymar rounded off the victory with his milestone goal.





(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Ken Ferris)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world