Messi scores 3, Barca rallies 5-1 over Espanyol

FE Team | Published: December 09, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

BARCELONA, Dec 8 (AP):  Lionel Messi scored another hat trick to reach the 400-goal mark for Barcelona and spark his team's 5-1 comeback victory over Espanyol in the Catalan capital derby on Sunday, keeping the winners second in the Spanish league.
Messi matched Cristiano Ronaldo's three-goal performance in Real Madrid's win the day before to ensure Barcelona stayed within two points of its fierce rivals at the top of the table. It was Messi's third hat trick in two weeks, having also netted three goals against Sevilla in the league and at APOEL in the Champions League.
Sergio Garcia put Espanyol in front in the 13th minute in a good first half for the visitors at Camp Nou, but Messi curled home the equalizer in injury time before the break and Barcelona never looked back.
Messi fired in his second in the 50th and added a third after Gerard Pique and substitute Pedro Rodriguez had scored in a second half completely dominated by Barcelona.
"Messi is a football legend," said Espanyol coach Sergio Gonzalez.  "We were the better side in the first half but Leo's goal was a tough blow. We couldn't forget it and 15 bad minutes cost us the game."
Already the club's all-time top scorer, Messi's 29th career treble for Barcelona was his 400th, 401st and 402nd goals for the club,  including friendlies. They took his league tally for this season to 13 goals, behind Ronaldo's runaway total of 23.
Elsewhere, David Moyes endured his first loss in charge of Real Sociedad, a stinging 4-0 defeat at Villarreal.
Carlos Bacca netted early to help secure Sevilla's 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano and tighten its hold on fourth place, while Alvaro Negredo scored his first goal for Valencia before it conceded a late equaliser to slip 1-1 at Granada.