Barcelona eased to a 2-1 win at home to Levante on Sunday to cut Real Madrid's lead in La Liga back to three points.  

Ansu Fati broke the deadlock after 30 minutes before netting again shortly after, with both goals assisted by Lionel Messi.

Levante pulled one back in injury time through Ruben Rochina after a fine second-half performance, but it was too late for them to complete their comeback.

Barcelona have now won all 14 of their league meetings with Levante at the Camp Nou, while the Granotas have now lost four league games in a row.

The hosts quickly set about dominating possession, and they had their first sight of goal in the 13th minute when Messi fired just wide.

Soon after he forced a save from Aitor Fernandez after a mazy run, and Antoine Griezmann should have at least hit the target when he was sent through by Jordi Alba.

Barca began to turn the screw even further with Messi once again being denied by Fernandez, after Gonzalo Melero had almost turned the ball into his own net from a corner.

Their pressure finally told when Messi picked out Fati with a defence-splitting pass and the 17-year-old showed impressive composure to slot home:

It was 2-0 immediately after when Messi fed Fati on the left and the teenager fired a low finish between Fernandez's legs.

Barca almost added a third before the break when Nelson Semedo cut inside and crashed an effort off the bar, while Griezmann will be wondering how he contrived to miss from close range when he met a cross from Semedo at the near post.

Squawka's Muhammad Butt enjoyed Barcelona's performance:

The Blaugrana continued their hunt for goals after the break, and Messi had an effort cleared off the line by Sergio Postigo.

Levante created chances throughout the half, though. Rochina blasted a rebound over after Marc-Andre ter Stegen had kept out Jose Luis Morales, and the goalkeeper was also on hand to stop Melero when he connected with a Morales cross.

Ter Stegen came to the rescue again to tip over a shot from substitute Hernani:

The German did not manage to keep a clean sheet, however, when Rochina's late 20-yard effort beat him courtesy of a deflection off Hernani.

Source: bleacherreport.com

BDST: 1136 HRS, FEB 03, 2020
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