Villarreal vs. Barcelona: Score and Reaction from 2017 La Liga Match

Barcelona needed a sublime 90th-minute free-kick from Lionel Messi to salvage a 1-1 draw with Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica in La Liga on Sunday.

Nicola Sansone gave the hosts the lead early in the second half on a difficult evening for the wasteful Barca before Messi came to the rescue. Jaume Costa was sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.

The visitors opened the game with some typically crisp passing moves, but Villarreal provided the biggest threat early on as Alexandre Pato twice found Jonathan dos Santos in dangerous positions.

On the first occasion, the midfielder volleyed his effort over the bar; on the second, a vital block from Lucas Digne denied the Mexico international.

At the other end, Neymar came closest for Barca as he raced on to Luis Suarez's lofted pass, only to be denied by the onrushing Sergio Asenjo, and the Brazilian also flashed a vicious effort narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

Spanish football expert Sergi Dominguez reflected on the Blaugrana's start to the game:

Barca continued to come close for the remainder of the half without making the breakthrough—Bruno made a crucial interception to prevent Neymar from tapping in from six yards out, while Suarez shot straight at Asenjo, who also tipped a Messi header over the bar.

Villarreal punished their opponents' profligacy four minutes after the break with a clinical counter-attack as Pato picked out Sansone, and the Italian found the bottom corner with aplomb.

As Sky Sports Statto revealed, the Yellow Submarine are formidable when scoring the first goal:

The visitors should have equalised immediately when Neymar received the ball on the left, but he could only fire a tame effort straight at Asenjo.

Messi led Barca's drive for an equaliser and was unfortunate to see his shot from the edge of the area come back off the post with Asenjo beaten, while both sides should have had a penalty within minutes of each other for handballs, but neither was given.

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan reflected on Bruno's fortune to avoid being penalised for blocking Messi's goal-bound effort, while Yahoo Sport UK's Andrew Gaffney was unsurprised by the decisions:

The Argentinian came to his side's rescue in the 90th minute, when he won a free-kick from 25 yards out and sweetly dispatched it into the top corner, as Sky Sports La Liga showed:

In the dying seconds, Costa—who was earlier booked for pulling Suarez's shirt—hauled down Messi in frustration and earned his marching orders.

The draw leaves Barcelona five points behind league leaders Real Madrid, who have a game in hand, and marks a poor start for manager Luis Enrique's side in 2017 after their Copa del Rey defeat to Athletic Club Bilbao on Thursday.

They will need to get back to winning ways against Las Palmas, Eibar and Real Betis in the coming weeks.

As for Villarreal, they missed the chance to move up to fourth, but with games against the struggling Deportivo La Coruna, Valencia and Granada coming up, they may move into the UEFA Champions League places.

Post-Match Reaction

Per Corrigan, Enrique refused to blame refereeing decisions for the result:

According to Barcelona's official Twitter feed, he added:

As posted on Villarreal's Twitter feed, manager Fran Escriba expressed his frustration at the result: "I'm happy with the effort and not so much with the result. It's frustrating to come so close. We have to value this point. Sometimes we're not conscious of the level of our opponents. The fact that Barcelona played well adds even more merit to our performance and the draw."