Messi stars as Barca cruise to derby victory

The Argentine score a hat-trick as Barca recorded a comfortable victory in the Catalan derby.

Barca started well, pinning their opponents back in the opening minutes and could have had a penalty when Ivan Rakitic was hauled down in the box but the foul was instead given against the Croat.

The visitors’ tactics were no surprise, with Quique Sanchez Flores’ side staying compact and keeping numbers behind the ball.

Barca had a decent chance after 15 minutes when Messi’s cross from the right found Suarez at the far post. The Uruguayan headed the ball down rather than go for goal himself and the ball was scrambled away.

Suarez went close again not long after as he fired a fierce free kick goalwards from 35 yards but visiting goalkeeper Pau Lopez got across to make the save.

Lopez then had to be alert again to prevent Deulofeu from getting in behind after a poor attempted backpass.

Halfway through the first half the hosts made the breakthrough, Messi gathering Rakitic low pass inside the area and beating a defender before firing into the top corner. The goal should not have stood though, with replays showing that Messi was offside when Rakitic played the pass.

The goal boosted Barca and Rakitic almost doubled the lead soon after. He combined with Messi through the middle before looking for the bottom corner from the edge of the box but Pau Lopez pushed his effort away and Messi’s follow up was blocked away by a defender.

Espanyol then threatened themselves, Semedo had to be alert at the far post to head clear with Piatti lurking.

From the corner Javi Fuego tried an audacious overhead kick but Barca cleared and countered at pace.

Jordi Alba belted down the left flank and when the ball broke to him, his low cross into the middle was perfect for Messi to convert from three yards.

From the restart Messi almost had his hat trick, with only a last-ditch intervention from Aaron preventing the Argentine from getting in.

From the resulting corner Rakitic rose highest but he headed straight at Pau Lopez with the whole goal to aim at.

Luis Suarez, who looked to be feeling the effects of his international involvement, fired over after Messi played him in behind from deep but it was Espanyol who had the last chance of the first half.

An excellent deep cross from the right was headed away by Pique but only as far as the edge of the box where former Valencia man Pablo Piatti was waiting. The Argentine flicked the ball over his head and crashed a volley against the post with Ter Stegen beaten.

Barca went into the break with a 2-0 lead.

Ernesto Valverde’s side started the second half looking to put the game to bed.

Deulofeu left his man for dead down the left and crossed low. His delivery evaded everyone but it was recovered by Iniesta who found Alba on the overlap, Suarez tried to turn his low cross home with a backheel but was denied by a fine save by Pau Lopez.

Espanyol were almost handed a route back into the game when Jordi Alba made a mess of a long ball.

He presented it to Piatti on the edge of the box but his attempt at lopping Ter Stegen dropped just wide of the far post.

Messi saw a low effort deflected wide before Luis Suarez contrived to lift the ball over the bar from six yards with the goal gaping.

Barca made the victory safe after 67 minutes, with Messi getting his third of the night.

Suarez looked certain to score but when he was forced wide Alba was on hand to pick out Messi who swept the ball into the far corner from 12 yards to seal the victory.

Paulinho almost scored his first goal for Barca but he couldn’t quite rack Suarez’s cross from the right at the far post.

Espanyol did have the ball in the net before the end of the game but it didn’t stand.

Didac called Ter Stegen into action with a fizzing effort from range. From the ensuing corner Moreno stabbed the ball into the net, after the German fumbled but the whistle had long since gone for a foul on the goalkeeper.

There was still time left for Barca to add some gloss to the scoreline, with Gerard Pique rising highest to head home Ivan Rakitic’s corner from the right before Luis Suarez tucked away debutant Ousmane Dembele-s low cross from the right to make it five.

The win sends Barca top of the table after Real Madrid were held to a draw by Levante earlier on Saturday. Lionel Messi meanwhile leads the La Liga goalscoring charts with five goals in the first three games of the season.

Next up for Barca is a Champions League tie against Italian champions Juventus.