Eerie silence as Barcelona win again

Barcelona – Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (right) scored twice in a 3-0 win over Las Palmas on Sunday in a Liga match played without fans following clashes between police and voters in Catalonia over a banned independence referendum.

In the late game, Real Madrid earned their first home league victory of the season by beating Espanyol 2-0 with a goal in each half by midfielder Isco, while Valencia moved up to third in the standings after beating visitors Athletic Bilbao 3-2.

Leaders Barca tried to have their game postponed, but the request was turned down, so the club announced 25 minutes before kick-off that the game would be played behind closed doors.

Barca’s Sergio Busquets scored for the first time in the league in three seasons to give the hosts the lead in the 49th minute, heading in a curling corner from Messi.

Messi then struck his 10th league goal of the season to double the lead in the 70th.

Messi then latched onto a pass from fellow forward Luis Suarez to pounce again in the 77th, sealing Barca’s seventh straight domestic league win this season and maintaining their 100% start in La Liga and the Champions League.

Barcelona lead the standings on 21 points, five clear of Sevilla in second, while Real are fifth on 14. Valencia, with 15, climbed above Atletico Madrid on goal difference.

In Madrid, Isco made the most of a through ball from Cristiano Ronaldo to coolly fire under Pau Lopez and put Real ahead on the half-hour mark. A lapse from captain Sergio Ramos in the second half allowed Espanyol a chance to level but his blushes were saved by team-mate Nacho, and moments later Isco killed off the Catalans.

Ronaldo drove forward and slipped the ball out to Asensio, who cut it back for Isco to ram home low into the far bottom corner. – Reuters