Watch Neymar get pelted by water bottle in Barcelona's wild comeback win
Barcelona's comeback 3-2 win over Valencia on Saturday had everything you could expect in a wild game: beautiful goals, controversial (bad) refereeing, players being stretchered off, goals scored against former clubs, last-gasp penalties and ... fans chucking projectiles at the players? Like we said, it was a wild game.
The controversy started pretty much immediately. Leo Messi started off the scoring spree when he rifled an excellent goal home, except for one problem — Luis Suarez was offside and blocking the goalkeeper's sight line. Suarez jumped over the shot and never touched the ball, but the goal should not have counted:
Munir struck back in his debut goal for Valencia by finishing a stunner against his former club:
The two sides exchanged goals again and everything was tied up with only about 10 seconds left in stoppage time. The Valencia fans were anxiously waiting the full-time whistle at any moment, but then this happened:
Last-gasp penalty! Barcelona were onto something with that slick passing sequence in the box, and Aymen Abdennour caught the heel of Suarez and took him down. The referee did not hesitate to point to the spot and Messi finished it off well, slotting the ball just under goalkeeper Diego Alves' outstretched hands:
The fans in Valencia were not having it and some started throwing stuff at the Barcelona players. A bottle hit Neymar:
It's unclear exactly what happened, but it looks like a plastic bottle hits Neymar square on the noggin. It's hard to tell how empty the bottle was or wasn't, but fans should never be throwing stuff at players. Not cool.
Valencia fans will feel hard done by that first allowed Barcelona goal, but the penalty was fair, even if it came mere moments before the match was set to end. All in all, the game was a crazy fun one.
While Barcelona eked out the win, it did come at a cost: Andres Iniesta had to be stretchered off in just the 12th minute. With the win, Barcelona moved up to the top of the La Liga table for the time being while Valencia are way back at 15.
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Controversy. @Teammessi blasts home as @LuisSuarez9 jumps out of the way -- but was he obstructing. #beINLaLiga https://t.co/2cZAm9gOJX
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
GOOOOAAL!
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
What a strike by @Munirhaddadi who comes back to haunt old club. 1-1. #beINLaLiga https://t.co/oG5hE91cSf
Penalty at the death. @Teammessi to take it. @FCBarcelona with a chance to win in the last moment! #beINLaLiga https://t.co/GQJhynRjgl
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
And they've done it. @Teammessi buries it as @FCBarcelona get a critical and hard fought win. #beINLaLiga https://t.co/4MFWOhacFc
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
After winning penalty, @ValenciaCF fans throw bottle right in middle of @FCBarcelona celebration. #beINLaLiga https://t.co/9sYuMtlH2n
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 22, 2016
