Barcelona 3 Hercules 0: Messi at the double

Posted Saturday, January 29, 2011 by PA

Lionel Messi scored two late goals as Barcelona beat 10-man Hercules 3-0 to preserve their 100% away record in the Primera Division and move seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Pedro gave Barca the lead two minutes before the interval, but the win was still in doubt until Messi's late intervention, with the Argentina forward bagging two goals in the last three minutes to give the Catalans a comfortable victory following Javier Farinos' dismissal for the home side.

The win erased memories of Barca's surprise home defeat at the hands of the promoted side earlier on in the campaign.

Barcelona peppered the home side's goal in glacier-like conditions, quickly finding Hercules' soft centre in the early exchanges.

Messi was looking fresh and saw an early effort saved by Juan Calatayud before dragging a crisp shot just wide moments later.

Pedro also missed two great chances for Barca before the half-hour, although David Trezeguet almost gave the home side the lead in between, when he fired wide with only Victor Valdes to beat.

David Villa and Dani Alves came close later in the half, but Pedro finally broke the deadlock two minutes before the break, when he raced onto Xavi's pass and beat Calatayud with a neat finish at the near post.

Villa then flashed a shot just wide after the break and Xavi came close with a curled effort moments later.

At the other end, Nelson Haedo Valdez - who scored both Hercules goals in the Alicante-based side's 2-0 victory at the Nou Camp at the beginning of the season - tested Barca keeper Valdes with a drive from the edge of the box.

But the visitors remained in control and looked the most likely to score as the game wore on.

Xavi had an effort well saved by Calatayud and Pedro saw an effort ruled out later on, but the end of the game was all about Messi.

The Argentina forward twice shot wide when he looked certain to score and saw another shot saved by Calatayud, but he was - as usual - to have the last laugh, scoring twice in the last three minutes.

By that time Hercules were down to 10 men following the dismissal of midfielder Farinos.

Farinos, one of the stars of the great Valencia side that reached consecutive Champions League finals at the turn of the century, had been sidelined for nine months and was making his comeback.

But it lasted just 16 minutes as he was dismissed for a second bookable offence with five minutes left.

Messi missed a great chance to make it 2-0 shortly afterwards, but finally got his name on the scoresheet moments later, when he fired a shot just inside the post after making space for himself on the edge of the box.

And the 23-year-old made it 3-0 with a minute left, when he poked home Alves' low cross from close-range.

Barca move seven clear for now, while Hercules - following a third straight defeat - are just four points clear of the drop zone.