LIONEL MESSI came off the bench at half-time to score twice as Barcelona beat 10-man Real Betis 5-2 at the Nou Camp. Ousmane Dembele had given the home side the lead after 22 minutes, before Antoine Griezmann’s penalty was saved and Antonio Sanabria equalized in first-half stoppage time. Messi, though, made an instant impact as his clever stepover set up Griezmann five minutes after the restart and he then converted a penalty after Aissa Mandi was shown a red card for handball on the line following VAR review. Loren Moron set up a tense final 15 minutes, but Messi settled matters with another late third goal and Pedri added a fifth as Ronald Koeman’s side closed out a much-needed La Liga victory. Barcelona went in front after 22 minutes when Dembele collected a ball from Griezmann on the right before cutting back inside to fire a left-footed shot past Claudio Bravo and into the top corner. After Griezmann hit a post, Barcelona was awarded a penalty in the 32nd minute when Fati was bundled over — only for the French striker to see his spot-kick saved. Real Betis equalized in first-half stoppage time when Sanabria slotted the ball in after Cristian Tello’s cross from the left was not cleared. Messi replaced teenager Fati for the second half — and made an instant impact to set up Griezmann in the 49th minute.(SD-Agencies) |