Lionel Messi equals Pele's Santos record in Barcelona draw - European round-up
Source: Sky Sports
Published 1 week ago
Lionel Messi equalled Pele's record of 643 goals for a single club after scoring for Barcelona in a 2-2 draw with Valencia on Saturday.
The Argentina forward netted a milestone goal with a diving header just before half-time - moments after missing a penalty - to cancel out Mouctar Diakhaby's 29th-minute opener.
Barcelona then went ahead through Ronald Araujo but Maxi Gomez earned Valencia a point.
Messi went close with several late efforts but Ronald Koeman's side failed to find a winner and his star player had to settle for matching rather than surpassing Pele's Santos mark for now.
Messi scores for Barcelona against Valencia
Barcelona are languishing fifth in the top-flight table but could yet be overhauled by sixth-placed Sevilla who have two games in hand on the Catalan giants.
Diakhaby capitalised on awful Barcelona defending to head in a corner that put Valencia into an early lead.
The hosts could not force their way back into the contest during a frustrating first half, only to be handed a golden chance to level with a penalty.