Barcelona topple Villarreal in three chaotic minutes

FC Barcelona are still well in the fight for the Liga BBVA title after beating Villarreal CF 3-2 in Sunday’s final game of matchday 21 in the the Liga BBVA. Denis Cheryshev and Luciano Vietto twice gave the visitors the lead, but their goals were cancelled out by efforts from Neymar, Rafinha and Lionel Messi.

The first half at the Camp Nou made for stunning viewing. This was a clash of two teams with different styles of play but both on an excellent run of results. Although Barcelona made the better start the game, it was Villarreal who opened the scoring, with Cheryshev turning in a loose ball in the area. The goal only served to wake the hosts, however, who kept prodding their opponents until Neymar finally provided the equaliser before the break, knocking a rebound past Sergio Asenjo after the goalkeeper had saved from Messi.

The second half was even more exciting, bearing witness to three goals in three minutes that dramatically changed the outcome of the game. Luciano Vietto restored Villarreal’s lead at the start of the second half but Rafinha and Lionel Messi responded quickly to put Barça in command. Luis Enrique’s side held firm for the remainder of the game to pick up a fourth consecutive league win and bring an end to Villarreal’s record-breaking unbeaten run of 18 matches.