La Liga: Barca thrash Espanyol

Lionel Messi's hat-trick sparked Barcelona into life as they
came from behind to thrash Espanyol 5-1 in the Catalan
derby.
A day after Cristiano Ronaldo set a new Primera Division
record for hat tricks with 23, Messi grabbed one of his own to
move up to 21 himself and secure local bragging rights for
Barca in Catalonia.
Messi came to the rescue on the stroke of half-time to cancel
out Sergio Garcia's opener for Espanyol, before adding his
second five minutes later.
Gerard Pique made it three goals in eight minutes to put
Barca firmly in control before Pedro added gloss to the
scoreline and Messi turned it into a rout.
The win means that Barca, who also saw Real Madrid equal
their record of 18 consecutive wins after their 3-0 triumph
over Celta Vigo on Saturday, remain two points behind Los
Blancos at the top of La Liga.
Ten-man Sevilla held on to win 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano.
An early strike from Carlos Bacca was enough for Champions
League chasing Sevilla, who had midfielder Daniel Carrico
sent off for a second bookable offence three minutes from time.
It was hardly a surprise that the visitors ended the game a
man light after picking up six bookings during the 90 minutes.