Spanish La Liga
BarcelonaBarcelona6Sporting GijónSporting Gijón0

Barcelona 6-0 Sporting Gijon

By Emlyn BegleyBBC Sport
Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez has now overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga's top scorer this season (34 to Ronaldo's 31)

Luis Suarez scored his second consecutive four-goal haul as Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga with victory over Sporting Gijon.

Victories for Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid earlier on Saturday had left Barca third by kick-off.

Lionel Messi's looping header into an empty net gave Barca the lead.

Suarez made it 2-0 before Barca won three late penalties, the Uruguayan scoring two and Neymar the other, and Suarez converted Messi's pass late on.

Sporting had Ognjen Vranjes harshly sent off for conceding the third penalty for a foul on Neymar.

Striker Suarez also scored four in Wednesday's 8-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna.

Barca over their crisis?

At the start of April, Barcelona were nine points clear at the top of La Liga - and unbeaten in 39 games.

But losing to Real in El Clasico sparked a disastrous run of one win in six games, allowing the Madrid clubs to close the gap, while Atletico knocked them out of the Champions League.

However, 14 unanswered La Liga goals in four days have taken them to within three wins of successfully defending their title.

They are level on points with Atletico and one point above Real, with their head-to-head record meaning they will edge out either Madrid side if they finish the league equal on points.

Unstoppable Suarez?

Pichichi

Luis Suarez took control of the race for the Pichichi - the Spanish golden boot - with his second quadruple of the week.

He now leads Real's currently injured star Cristiano Ronaldo 34-31 with three games left.

Suarez's fellow Uruguayan Diego Forlan is the last player other than Ronaldo or Messi to win the award - back in 2008-09.

The former Liverpool striker had a hand in the opener, putting keeper Ivan Cuellar under pressure before the ball came to Messi, who headed a looping effort into the empty net from 18 yards.

Barca's second did not come until the 63rd minute when Suarez converted Andres Iniesta's pass - possibly from an offside position.

Suarez scored their first penalty after Roberto Canella handled Dani Alves' cross. His hat-trick goal came from the spot after Antonio Sanabria shoved over Neymar.

Barcelona got a third penalty when Vranjes was deemed to have pushed Neymar, and was sent off for a second booking.

Out-of-form Neymar this time took the penalty, and scored down the centre, with keeper Cuellar almost keeping it out.

But Suarez still had time for his fourth when he fired home Messi's pass via the post.

Line-ups

Barcelona

Formation 4-3-3

  • 13Bravo
  • 20Roberto CarnicerSubstituted forAlves da Silvaat 45'minutes
  • 3PiquéSubstituted forBartraat 66'minutes
  • 14Mascherano
  • 18Alba
  • 4RakiticSubstituted forTuranat 75'minutes
  • 5Busquets
  • 8Iniesta
  • 10Messi
  • 9Suárez
  • 11Neymar

Substitutes

  • 1ter Stegen
  • 6Alves da Silva
  • 7Turan
  • 12Rafinha
  • 15Bartra
  • 17El Haddadi
  • 21Correia

Sporting Gijón

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Cuéllar
  • 21VranjesBooked at 84mins
  • 2HernándezBooked at 71mins
  • 4Lichnovsky Osorio
  • 18López BlancoSubstituted forCanellaat 69'minutes
  • 17Mascarell
  • 24Ait Atmane
  • 22Pérez RodríguezSubstituted forSanabriaat 62'minutes
  • 25HalilovicBooked at 85mins
  • 3Menéndez Díez
  • 9GuerreroSubstituted forCastro Garcíaat 75'minutes

Substitutes

  • 6Álvarez Díaz
  • 11Lora
  • 15Canella
  • 16Castro García
  • 19Carmona
  • 20Sanabria
  • 26Díaz Fernández
Referee:
Carlos Clos Gómez
Attendance:
75,882

Match Stats

Home TeamBarcelonaAway TeamSporting Gijón
Possession
Home72%
Away28%
Shots
Home24
Away5
Shots on Target
Home10
Away3
Corners
Home6
Away1
Fouls
Home11
Away11

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Barcelona 6, Sporting de Gijón 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Barcelona 6, Sporting de Gijón 0.

  3. Goal!

    Goal! Barcelona 6, Sporting de Gijón 0. Luis Suárez (Barcelona) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lionel Messi.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Sergio Busquets (Barcelona).

  5. Post update

    Rachid (Sporting de Gijón) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Goal!

    Goal! Barcelona 5, Sporting de Gijón 0. Neymar (Barcelona) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.

  7. Booking

    Alen Halilovic (Sporting de Gijón) is shown the yellow card.

  8. Dismissal

    Second yellow card to Ognjen Vranjes (Sporting de Gijón) for a bad foul.

  9. Post update

    Penalty Barcelona. Neymar draws a foul in the penalty area.

  10. Post update

    Penalty conceded by Ognjen Vranjes (Sporting de Gijón) after a foul in the penalty area.

  11. Post update

    Neymar (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  12. Post update

    Foul by Ognjen Vranjes (Sporting de Gijón).

  13. Post update

    Foul by Javier Mascherano (Barcelona).

  14. Post update

    Carlos Castro (Sporting de Gijón) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  15. Post update

    Offside, Barcelona. Lionel Messi tries a through ball, but Luis Suárez is caught offside.

  16. Goal!

    Goal! Barcelona 4, Sporting de Gijón 0. Luis Suárez (Barcelona) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.

  17. Post update

    Penalty Barcelona. Neymar draws a foul in the penalty area.

  18. Post update

    Penalty conceded by Antonio Sanabria (Sporting de Gijón) after a foul in the penalty area.

  19. Post update

    Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Ognjen Vranjes.

  20. Substitution

    Substitution, Sporting de Gijón. Carlos Castro replaces Guerrero.

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Barcelona352645102297382
2Atl Madrid35264559164382
3Real Madrid352564104327281
4Villarreal34179842311160
5Ath Bilbao341661251411054
6Celta Vigo34159104754-754
7Sevilla341310114742549
8Las Palmas35127164246-443
9Valencia341110134240243
10Malaga351012133132-142
11Eibar35119154654-842
12Real Sociedad34118154246-441
13Real Betis341011133146-1541
14Dep La Coruña35718104357-1439
15Espanyol35107183567-3237
16Rayo Vallecano35811164869-2135
17Granada3489173861-2333
18Sporting Gijón3588193561-2632
19Getafe3487193162-3131
20Levante3477203161-3028
View full Spanish La Liga table

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