Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does best as he fired Barcelona to derby victory over Espanyol with a hat-trick.
The Argentine scored the first three goals of the game, ending Espanyol resistance and reaching a total of five for the season in La Liga.
Magician Messi’s assistant was Jordi Alba, who put the forward’s second and third goals on a plate for him, rampaging down the left to more than account for the absent Neymar.
The Brazilian’s replacement, Ousmane Dembele, had a 22 minute run out and although it wasn’t much, played in Luis Suarez for a simple fifth.
The fourth came via the head of Gerard Pique, who nodded home from a corner to score a victory he will relish against Barcelona’s noisy, or not so noisy tonight, neighbours.
Ernesto Valverde’s team capitalised on Real Madrid’s draw with Levante to win their third league game in a row, putting them on nine points, four ahead of Madrid.
The coach elected to curiously place Suarez on the left, Messi in the middle and Gerard Deulofeu on the right, which left plenty of space for the full-backs to roam into.
Messi’s opener was brilliantly finished although he was offside when he reached Ivan Rakitic’s pass, although the linesman didn’t spot it.
The second was finished neatly after Alba’s pass, as was the third, with the visitors giving up.
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