Neymar’s 100 takes Barca to win
Madrid, April 3: Barcelona made light of the suspended Lionel Messi’s absence to remain just two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid as Neymar netted his 100th goal for the club in a 4-1 win at Granada.
Earlier, Madrid consolidated their advantage at the top thanks to goals from Karim Benzema, Isco and Nacho to beat Alaves 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Barca could have used Messi’s precision in front of goal as they passed up a host of chances in the firsthalf. Luis Suarez’s first attempted chip over Ochoa came back off the underside of the bar before the Mexican denied Suarez with three saves in as many minutes. The Uruguayan did eventually make the breakthrough when he sent a lovely dinked effort over the helpless Ochoa from Jordi Alba’s through ball.
Granada sent on Chelsea loanee Jeremie Boga at the start of the second-half and he took just five minutes to level. However, Barca retook the lead 13 minutes later when this time Suarez turned provider for Alcacer to net just his fourth goal since joining from Valencia in August.
Barca made the game safe when Ivan Rakitic drilled into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. And Neymar rounded off the win with his 100th goal on his 177th appearance when he tapped home Alcacer’s cross at the far post.
At the Bernabeu, the European champions were grateful to Alaves’ wastefulness in front of goal as they moved a step closer to a first title in five years. “Playing every three days you can’t always play perfectly for 90 minutes,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.