Barcelona extended their lead at the summit of the La Liga table to six points after sealing a 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon at El Molinon on Wednesday night.
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi reached a milestone by scoring his 300th league goal before adding another to his tally prior to the half-time break, cancelling out Carlos Castro's equaliser.
Luis Suarez redeemed himself after missing a penalty to nab the Catalan giants' third goal of the game in the second half.
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As expected, it did not take long for the visitors to take hold of possession and comfortably knock the ball around the pitch searching for a way through.
The first serious opportunity of the game, though, was created by Sporting in the 10th minute when Alen Halilovic, who is on loan from Barca, charged through the middle of the park before playing the ball out wide to Alex Menendez, whose shot towards the bottom corner drifted wide.
Barcelona ramped up the attack and Suarez came close to seeing the net bulge when he latched on to a threaded pass from Neymar in the box, but his close-range shot was saved by Ivan Cuellar.
After a spell of pressure, the Catalan giants found the breakthrough and it was Messi who reached a milestone by collecting the ball on the edge of the box from Suarez before cutting inside and drilling the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot.
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Two minutes later, though, Sporting responded through a spirited counter-attack, which ended in Menendez sending the ball across the face of goal to find Carlos Castro, who sealed a tap-in at the near post.
Some defensive errors from Barca led to the equaliser, but they bounced back at the other end as Messi scored his 301st goal thanks to some help from Suarez.
The Uruguayan used his strength to hold the ball up in the box before cutting it back to Messi, who sent it into the back of the net with the outside of his left foot.
The Spanish giants began to rip through Sporting's defence, and Neymar came close to getting on the scoresheet before the half-time break by attempting to curl the ball into the net after the keeper denied Messi's strike, but the Brazilian's effort bounced off the post.
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After the break, Gerard Pique went for a spectacular effort by attempting a scissor kick after latching on to a cross in the box, but the ball ended up in the hands of the keeper.
Suarez was given an opportunity to score Barcelona's third when a penalty was awarded after Neymar was brought down by the keeper close to the byline, but the Uruguayan had his effort saved at the bottom left corner.
The former Liverpool striker made up for it, though, as six minutes later he curled one into the net after switching feet and turning away from his marker in the box.
Suarez could have had a second not long after when Arda Turan sent a volley across goal, but it was too far ahead for his teammate to latch on to and the chance went missing.
In the end, it was a comfortable triumph for Barcelona, who are now unbeaten in 31 games in all competitions.
