LIONEL MESSI came off the bench and scored twice in the second half as Barcelona, who survived two late dismissals, won 2-1 at Racing Santander yesterday and maintained their huge lead in the Primera Liga.
Racing gave the visitors little space and took the lead after the restart when Nikola Zigic scored from the penalty spot.
Messi’s introduction galvanised Barcelona and the Argentine stole in to score the equaliser within 10 minutes of coming on the pitch, and grabbed the winner nine minutes from time.
Barcelona, who had Rafael Marquez and Gerard Pique sent off in the closing minutes, restored their 12-point lead at the top of the standings – moving on to 56 points from 21 games.
Champions Real Madrid, who beat Numancia 2-0 away on Saturday, are second.
Real, who on Saturday completed the loan signing of midfielder Julien Faubert (25) from West Ham United for the rest of the season, took the lead when Raul scored his 307th goal for the club to equal Real’s record set by Alfredo di Stefano.
Arjen Robben bagged the second soon after.
Sevilla remain in third place, six points behind Real on 38, despite their 1-0 away loss to Sporting Gijon in last night’s late game.
Valencia fill the remaining Champions League spot following their 3-2 win over mid-table Almeria yesterday.
