Barca retain top spot in La Liga with 2-0 Rayo Vallecano win

Argentine forward Lionel Messi and Brazil football team captain Neymar scored a goal each within 78 seconds of each other to help Barcelona retain a top spot in La Liga with their side's win over Rayo Vallecano.

Argentina captain Messi lobbed in the opener to move within two goals of the Spanish league goalscoring record. Neymar doubled Barca's lead when the forward drilled a low first-time shot into the bottom corner.

Rayo had two men sent off after half time as Barca stayed two points clear of second-placed Valencia, The BBC reported.

Valencia had moved above the Catalan club earlier on Saturday with an eye-catching 3-1 home win against champions Atletico Madrid. But Barca produced a confident display, albeit against a poor Rayo side, to reassume control.

Luis Enrique's team were beaten for the first time this season when they lost 3-2 at Champions League opponents Paris St-Germain on Tuesday.

Barca coped with the pressure before tearing apart Rayo's dangerously high defensive line with two hopeful long balls.

Centre-back Gerard Pique's punt found Messi, who controlled the ball with his head before lifting it over goalkeeper Tono. It was the Argentine's 249th league goal for Barca, putting him two behind Athletic Bilbao legend Telmo Zarra, who scored 251 in the 1940s and 1950s.

And within seconds of Messi's opener, Neymar put the game beyond mid-table Rayo.

Rayo finished with nine men after defender Jorge Morcillo was sent off on the hour for his second bookable offence and substitute Javier Aquino followed suit in injury-time.

But it did not affect the scoreline as Barca set a new La Liga record by keeping a clean sheet for the seventh successive game, the report added.