La Liga: Messi nets 3 as Barcelona routs Espanyol 5-0

Argentinean ace Lionel Messi shined as Barcelona destroyed rivals Espanyol 5-0, in the Catalan derby at Camp Nou.

It took the Catalans 26 minutes to open the scoring on Saturday, when Messi reached Ivan Rakitic’s pass and fired the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0.

Messi then doubled the hosts advantage some 10 minutes later, as he slid-in Jordi Alba's smart cut-back. But the Argentinean Wizard didn’t stop there, he went-on to complete his hat-trick after the break from another Alba cross, putting Barca in a commanding position.

More goals, kept coming, as Gerard Pique made it 4-nil with an unstoppable header, and Luis Surez added the 5th in the 90th minute, as Barcelona headed to the top of table with the 5-nil victory.

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