Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi has extended his lead at the top of the scoring chart in the Spanish top flight after he scored a brace to lead his team to a 4-1 win at home to bottom club Huesca on Monday night. Lionel Messi was the star of the match for Barcelona after he scored twice either side of the half-time break and also added an assist in the second half. The Huesca players were unable to handle the quality shown by Messi during the game. The two goals against Huesca took his tally to 21 in the Spanish top flight. Lionel Messi had a lead of just one goal over nearest challenger andformer Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez before the Huesca match. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were Barcelona teammates for six years before the Uruguayan player left the club to join La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid. Luis Suarez had 18 league goals, while Lionel Messi had 19 league goals before the Huesca game. The brace lifted Messi to 21 goals in La Liga this term, while Suarez stayed on 18 goals. The two players have 11 more games to stake a claim for the Pichichi, which is given to the highest goalscorer in the league. There are other contenders for the Pichichi like Gerard Moreno of Villarreal, Real Madrid attacker Karim Benzema and Sevilla player Yousef En-Nesyri. Moreno, En-Nesyri and Benzema have all scored 15 goals each.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring during the Huesca game after just 13 minutes on what was the occasion of 767 appearances for the Catalan giants as he was able to equal the record of former teammate Xavi Hernandez. French international Antoine Griezmann added a second goal for Barcelona before Huesca attacker Rafael Mir halved the scorelineon the stroke of half-time after he was adjudged to have been brought down by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc Andre TerStegen. Oscar Mingueza and Lionel Messi scored in the second half to secure a comprehensive victory for the five-time European champions.