Valencia 1-1 Barcelona: Jordi Alba strikes late to cancel out Rodrigo's opener at the Mestalla as Lionel Messi is denied an obvious goal by officials

• Valencia and Barcelona shared the points at the Mestalla on Sunday night as they could only draw 1-1 
• Rodrigo opened the scoring in the 59th minute after he finished off a slick team move at the near post 
• Jordi Alba levelled things up late on with an acrobatic finish following a sensational pass by Lionel Messi
• Messi had seemingly given Barcelona the lead but the officials failed to spot his shot had crossed the line  

First came the Lionel Messi ghost goal, then came the sight of Rodrigo Moreno ghosting in front of Thomas Vermaelen to score, and then came Jordi Alba’s dramatic equaliser.

La Liga’s top of the table game had everything from orange-wig celebrations, to dreadful mistakes from match officials, to a sublime assist from Messi for the Barça leveler.

A resurgent Valencia so nearly became the first team to beat Barcelona this season, although they were helped when the most controversial moment of the season went their way.

Jordi Alba managed to rescue a point for Barcelona after he acrobatically fired home Lionel Messi's sensational through ball

The left back silenced the fans of his former club before blowing a kiss down the television cameras in celebration

Valencia players headed straight for their supporters following the opening goal as Rodrigo's strike sparked wild celebrations

Rodrigo put on a red wing that was given to him before falling to his knees in celebration at giving his side the lead

There was controversy early on as Messi's shot from distance crossed the line but officials failed to see

Neto scrambled to save Messi's shot after spilling the ball but video replays clearly showed a goal should have been given

Messi and team-mate Luis Suarez could not believe a goal had not been given and remonstrated with officials