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GIANT KILLERS! Celta Vigo Stun Barcelona As Balotelli Sees Red After Scoring Winner – As It Happened

October 3, 2016 1:50 PM

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celta-vigo-barcelona — A Messi-less Barcelona were ripped to shreds by Celta Vigo.

Celta Vigo stunned Barcelona with three goals in 11 minutes in the first half and then rode out the storm in the second period to claim three points after a thrilling 4-3 victory Sunday night.

Luis Enrique’s side could have gone top of the table with a victory but stay fourth after the setback, his third loss in as many visits to the Balaidos.

Pione Sisto opened the scoring after Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Sergio Busquets combined to err, before Iago Aspas doubled the score and Jeremy Mathieu put through his own net under pressure from the former Liverpool forward.

Barcelona, inspired by Andres Iniesta, unleashed a storm at the restart, with Gerard Pique and Neymar scoring the goals – the latter a penalty – but another Ter Stegen error allowed Pablo Hernandez to extend Celta’s lead late on.

Pique added a second with three minutes left but the comeback was not to be as Barca pay for yet another squad rotation.

In France, Mario Balotelli showed his Jekyll and Hyde persona once again as he was sent off for Nice just minutes after scoring the winner in their 2-1 win over Lorient.

The born again Italian striker smashed the ball into the top corner in the 86th minute for his sixth goal in five games to send Nice to the top of the Ligue 1 table.

And then the madness began: first, he was cautioned for taking his shirt off in the celebration of his strike, and as the game edged into stoppage time, he was involved in an altercation with Lorient defender Steven Moreira, earning both men a yellow card.

However, he did get a standing ovation by the Nice supporters as he trudged off to the sidelines.

Balotelli’s winner leaves Nice one point above Monaco at the top of the standings and four ahead of reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.