Aspas strikes late to blunt Barca’s title bid

VIGO: Spain striker Iago Aspas dealt a fresh blow to Barcelona’s La Liga title hopes by striking a late free kick to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to the Catalans on Saturday as Quique Setien’s side twice threw away the lead in a thrilling match.
Luis Suarez headed Barca in front in the 20th minute thanks to a piece of ingenuity from Lionel Messi, who looked certain to fire at goal from a free kick but instead lofted the ball towards his Uruguayan strike partner.
Russia striker Fedor Smolov equalised for Celta early in the second half before Suarez again combined with Messi to restore Barca’s lead in the 67th minute. However, Aspas converted a free kick with two minutes remaining. The draw put Barca back on top of the table on 69 points but Real Madrid, on 68, can go two points clear at the summit with seven games to go if they beat Espanyol away from home on Sunday. With four former Barça men (Rafinha, Denis Suárez, Nolito and Jeison Murillo) on the field, the home side looked even more dangerous. Barça needed to find something and it was Suárez who found it. He’d never scored at Balaídos before and today he did it twice. Again a Messi assist and a wonderful swivel and finish from El Pistolero had Barça back where they deserved to be – winning. Celta didn’t give up. It took some Ter Stegen magic to prevent Nolito from putting the sides level again, but there was nothing the German could do to prevent Aspas’ equaliser. From a Barça point of view, it hurt … but it would be wrong not to commend the Celta striker for such a perfectly executed free-kick. The ball curled around the wall and slotted inside the bottom left hand corner was just too good to handle. (Agencies)