Barca hold on for draw at Celta Vigo

Madrid, April 18 

Lionel Messi was thrown on as a substitute but 10-man Barcelona were relieved to escape with a draw as Celta Vigo came within a whisker of inflicting the Catalans’ first league defeat of the season on Tuesday. Messi was introduced after an hour and looked to have inspired another Barca victory when Paulinho gave the visitors a 2-1 lead four minutes later. But Sergi Roberto was sent off for preventing Iago Aspas sprinting clear and in the 82nd minute the former Liverpool striker made it 2-2, albeit with a large slice of luck given the ball brushed his hand on its way into the net.

Vigo pushed for a late winner and should have had it when substitute Lucas Boye went through one-on-one but he took too long and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made a crucial stop. Earlier, a superb strike from Ousmane Dembele had been cancelled out by Jonny Castro’s close-range finish as Barcelona stretched their record unbeaten run to 40 La Liga games.

Kane strikes, but Spurs held by Brighton

Brighton: Harry Kane stepped up his bid to win the Premier League’s golden boot as Tottenham warmed up for the FA Cup semifinals with a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Tuesday. Kane’s 26th goal of the season kept him in with a chance of catching Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who has 30 goals. — AFP