BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Lionel Messi scored a 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 today, keeping the winners second in the Spanish football 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, but Messi curled home the equaliser in injury time before the break to change the flow of the game.
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.
Already Barcelona’s all-time top scorer, Messi’s goals were his 400th, 401st and 402nd goals for the club, including friendlies. They took his league tally for this season to 13 goals, far behind Ronaldo’s runaway total of 23.
Also today, Carlos Bacca scored early to help secure Sevilla’s 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano as the Andalusian side tightened their hold on fourth place.