Fabregas, Villa earn Vilanova praise

Tito Vilanova has heaped praise on David Villa and Cesc Fabregas after they helped Barcelona to a comeback 3-2 win over Sevilla.

Barca were staring at their first defeat of the league season after Alvaro Negredo and Piotr Trochowski gave hosts Sevilla a 2-0 lead in the Liga clash.

Fabregas bagged a brace to level the scores going into extra-time, before Villa netted the winner against the 10 men of Sevilla, who had Gary Medel sent off with 18 minutes remaining.

“Villa is absolutely vital,” Barca coach Vilanova said.

“He has an important knack for scoring these types of goals.”

“It was the reason behind my idea to deploy him as centre-forward.

“After just a month of being back in action, it couldn’t have gone any better for him. The 3-4-3 formation has proven vital in helping Villa leave his mark.

“Cesc meanwhile has run a lot and played at a very high level, always reflecting the desire I harbour for the team to play and win. He has shown he is feeling better and better.”

Barca now boast an 11-point lead over ninth-placed Real Madrid, who host Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

“This is a very strong league, and it is always better to have an advantage over Real Madrid than not to have it,” Vilanova said.

“Still, there are many games left, and many pitfalls await us, and them, over their course.”