MADRID: Sevilla became surprise leaders in La Liga on Sunday after beating visiting Celta Vigo 2-1 while champions Barcelona drew 1-1 at Valencia thanks to another Lionel Messi strike but are still without a victory in their last four league games.

Atletico Madrid joined Barca on 15 points after scraping a 1-0 win at home to Real Betis with a late strike from substitute Angel Correa to climb above Real Madrid into third in a highly competitive campaign with the top six separated by two points. Espanyol and Deportivo Alaves are also level on 14 points with Real.

“The La Liga is pretty good. It is nice to see that we are all fighting for the lead,” Barca midfielder Ivan Rakitic said. “There are no easy games.”

Barca fell behind in the second minute at a bouncing Mestalla stadium after dreadful defending from a corner allowed Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay to stab home from close range.

Barca continued to leak chances but got a foothold in the game thanks to a superb strike in the 23rd minute from Messi, who has been in inspired form recently and delivered a performance for the ages against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

Messi slipped a pass to Luis Suarez between the legs of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Suarez used one gentle touch to lay the ball back into Messi’s path and the Argentina forward scored with a left-footed strike from outside the area while appearing hemmed in by two defenders.

Philippe Coutinho should have won it for Barca in the second half but took too long to pull the trigger and Jose Gaya was able to make the block.

Pablo Sarabia once again proved to be Sevilla’s most dynamic player, scoring one goal and setting up another to lead Sevilla to a fourth consecutive victory in the league.

Sarabia headed in a cross by Jesus Navas in the 39th. After Celta’s Nestor Araujo was sent off with a second booking, Sarabia assisted Wissam Ben Yedder for a tap-in that was initially ruled to be offside but allowed after a video review.

Sofiane Boufal scored a superb goal late on for Celta after dribbling forward from the center line and curling in a right-footed strike.

“At the moment we are playing with a lot of confidence,” Ben Yedder said. “We are showing we can be consistent.”

Substitute Correa came off the bench and created the goal that Atletico needed to break down Betis.

Correa recovered the ball in midfield and exchanged passes with Thomas Partey before stroking a shot from outside the area beyond the reach of goalkeeper Pau Lopez for the 74th-minute winner.

Atletico sat seven points behind Real and Barca after winning only one of their opening four league games but as their rivals have stumbled, Diego Simeone’s side have sprung into form.

“We are happy to have gotten stronger,” Correa said. “You can always improve. We have been working hard and this is the result.”

Espanyol beat Villarreal 3-1 for their fourth win in as many home matches this season, while Real Valladolid edged visiting Huesca 1-0 for its third win in a row.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018