Barcelona beat Sevilla in Spanish league

Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-1 in a hard-fought contest at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium here.

Sevilla got off to a good start in front of their home fans during Sunday's match, with Vitolo capitalising on a defensive error by Sergi Roberto to get Jorge Sampaoli's team on the board first after 15 minutes of play, reports Efe.

Then Lionel Messi evened things up for Barcelona with a powerful left-footer just before the break, and finally after dribbling in toward the goal he set up Luis Suarez for the game-winning shot in the 61st minute.

Barcelona is in second place in Spanish First Division play at this point in the 11th week of the season, their win over third-ranked Sevilla pulling them to within two points of league-leading Real Madrid.

Messi's goal was his 27th against Sevilla.

Both teams came to the contest with depleted rosters. For Barcelona, it were Mathieu, Pique, Jordi Alba and Aleix Vidal who were missing due to injuries. Sevilla were missing the injured Nico Pareja and Mercado, who was sanctioned.

Barcelona's win is expected to boost the team's morale after their 1-3 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League.

--IANS

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