Valencia held Barcelona 1-1 in La Liga on Sunday night, but were given a helping hand by match officials who failed to spot a Lionel Messi goal in the first half.

Messi fired a shot goalwards from the edge of the area from Luis Suarez' cross on the half hour.

Valencia keeper Neto spilled the ball between his legs and over the line but the match officials missed it.

Referee Ignacio Iglesias' view was blocked by the keeper's body. His linesman was sprinting back and also failed to spot the goal.

La Liga does not use goal line technology, although there are plans to introduce Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) next season.

Barcelona players surrounded the match officials after the incident and Messi continued to talk to the referee as the players left the field at half time.

Valencia took the lead on 60 minutes when Jose Gaya crossed from the left and Rodrigo Moreno scored from inside the six-yard box.

It seemed they were set to become the first team this season to beat Barcelona, but with eight minutes left, Messi's dinked pass picked out Jordi Alba and he levelled to ensure the points were shared.

Earlier Sevilla came back from 2-0 down to beat Villarreal 3-2 away in dramatic style.

Villarreal took the lead on 19 minutes when Cedric Bakambu scored his ninth league goal of the season from Pablo Fornals' assist.

Carlos Bacca doubled the advantage for the home side on 53 minutes, but Sevilla were back in it just three minutes later when Clement Lenglet made it 2-1 from Ever Banega's cross.

Franco Vazquez scored again on 58 minutes to level. When Victor Ruiz brought down Gabriel Mercado in the area, he was sent off for a second yellow card and Banega scored the penalty to win the game.

Sevilla are fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Real Madrid and third-placed Atletico Madrid. Barcelona stay top four points clear of Valencia and eight clear of the two Madrid teams.