Barcelona, Dec. 22 (IANS): FC Barcelona got a lift from Lionel Messi when they needed it the most and went on to defeat Alaves 4-1 in their final match of 2019.
The Catalans were clearly superior prior to the break but found themselves up against the ropes until the Argentine superstar scored a brilliant, momentum-changing goal midway through the second half on Saturday.
The home side nearly opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the contest at Camp Nou, but an apparent goal by Messi was waved off for offside, reports Efe news.
Antoine Griezmann, however, got Barcelona on the board four minutes later on a right-footed shot into the bottom corner off a cross from Luis Suarez.
Arturo Vidal had been unable to get to the Chilean's cross on that play, but just a few seconds before halftime he received a pass from Suarez in the box and booted the ball past Alaves goalie Fernando Pacheco.
Alaves, meanwhile, had one decent scoring chance in the first 45 minutes when Mubarak Wakaso received a pass over the top and eluded Barça defender Samuel Umtiti, but he was only able to muster a tame shot that went wide of the goal.
The home team then nearly made the score 3-0 in the 51st minute, although an apparent goal by Griezmann off a sublime pass from Messi was ruled out for offside.
The match had been one-way traffic to that point, but out of nowhere Alaves nearly turned the contest completely around over a 10-minute stretch.
First, Pere Pons pulled one back for the visitors when he ran unmarked into the area and headed home a cross by Ruben Duarte in minute 56. Then Alaves had two good chances for the equaliser.
The first of those opportunities came after some poor Barcelona defending forced goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to save a shot by Aleix Vidal, while the second came on a Duarte header off a corner kick that went just inches wide of the upright.
But with his team on the ropes, the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner took matters into his own hands in the 69th minute.
After taking possession of the ball and driving toward the edge of the box, Messi fired a shot past Pacheco with four defenders surrounding him to give his side a 3-1 lead.
The match then completely slipped away from Alaves when, after a VAR review, right back Martin Aguirregabiria was called for a hand ball in the area on a play in the 73rd minute in which he blocked a header by Suarez over the crossbar.
A couple of minutes later, the Uruguayan gave his team a three-goal lead with a conversion from the 12-yard mark.
With the win, the first-place team in LaLiga (39 points) provisionally moved three points ahead of Real Madrid, who will host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night. Alaves (19 points) are currently in 15th place in the Spanish league.