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January 16, 2018

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Suarez, Messi ends Barcelona鈥檚 curse at Sociedad

Barcelona has broken its curse at Anoeta Stadium.

Luis Suarez scored twice before Lionel Messi completed Barcelona鈥檚 4-2 comeback win at Real Sociedad on Sunday, giving the Catalan club its first league win at the Basque Country team since 2007. Barcelona was behind by two goals when Suarez set up Paulinho before halftime. The Uruguayan then scored twice in the second half to put the visitors ahead as heavy rain fell over the northern city of San Sebastian.

Messi secured the three points when he scored from a free-kick with five minutes remaining.

Barcelona reached the halfway point of the league season unbeaten and with a nine-point lead over second-place Atletico Madrid. Valencia trails by 11, and defending champion Real Madrid faces a massive 19-point deficit with a game in hand.

鈥淥ur bad run here in the league is finally over,鈥 Suarez said. 鈥淭his is the best way to finish the first half of the season, winning and doing so by turning around a match we were losing.鈥

The fightback ended Barcelona鈥檚 run of five losses and two draws in La Liga at Sociedad, a team that has consistently played at its best against the powerhouse.

Barcelona also extended its undefeated streak across all competitions this season to 29 straight games since losing the Spanish Super Cup to Madrid in August.

鈥淲hat can I say? The numbers speak for themselves. We are happy with the season we are having, after the difficult start we had,鈥 said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. 鈥淣ow we have the second half of the season. We don鈥檛 rule out our rivals, but we only need to worry about what we will do. That鈥檚 the advantage of being in the lead.鈥

Sevilla鈥檚 winless streak reached five straight rounds after losing 0-1 at Alaves. It was Sevilla鈥檚 second consecutive loss in the league under Vincenzo Montella, the Italian coach who replaced the fired Eduardo Berizzo late last month.

Celta鈥檚 1-0 win at Levante from Pione Sisto鈥檚 first-half goal was marred by an alleged incident of racial abuse between players. Levante midfielder Jefferson Lerma accused Celta Vigo striker Iago Aspas of using a racist slur to insult him.


 

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