Barcelona left it late to snatch a 1-0 win at Valencia on Sunday but the celebrations that followed were marred after Lionel Messi appeared to have been hit on the head by a plastic bottle thrown from the crowd.

Despite complaining to referee David Fernandez Borbalan, Messi instead a yellow card was issued to the Argentinean for wasting time. Following the match, he was seen receiving treatment from the team physio . The Argentina captain did not look to have been hurt and gave the thumbs up as he left the pitch.

Valencia later released an official statement promising to banish the culprit from the stadium for life. “Valencia CF regret and condemn the isolated incident in the game against FC Barcelona, in which a small, uncapped bottle of water was thrown from the stands at opposition player Lionel Messi,” Valencia said on their website. “The club will endeavour to locate the person who threw the bottle and they will be banned for life from the Mestalla,” they added. “Valencia CF operate a zero tolerance policy on such actions and rigorously enforce all security measures set out by legislation,” the statement added.

Barca’s 1-0 win kept them hard on the heels of leaders Real Madrid, who are two points clear of their arch-rivals after 13 matches thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Malaga.

Barcelona and Valencia each had plenty of chances in a scrappy game at the Mestalla that was settled when Sergio Busquets pounced on a loose ball and smashed it high into the net in the fourth minute of added time.

Closing the gap

Barca’s victory trimmed the gap to Real Madrid back to two points after the leaders set a club record of 16 straight victories in all competitions when they won 2-1 at Malaga on Saturday.

Real have 33 points from 13 matches, with Barca on 31 and champions Atletico on 29 in third. Valencia dropped to fifth on 24 points, two behind Sevilla who thrashed visiting Andalusian rivals Granada 5-1.

Barca should have been ahead in the 14th minute when Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves produced a superb save to deny Luis Suarez, who is yet to open his account in La Liga since his ban for biting expired at the end of October.

The Uruguay international, who joined from Liverpool in the close season, then had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside in the 69th minute.

Barca keeper Claudio Bravo was also on fine form and conjured brilliant stops against second-half efforts from Sofiane Feghouli and Alvaro Negredo.

“We are never satisfied with a draw and we pushed until the end,” Busquets said in an interview with Spanish television. “The ball fell to me after Alves saved and I put everything into the shot,” added the Spain midfielder.

Villarreal climbed above Malaga into sixth with a 2-0 win at struggling Cordoba, who are without a win and stay bottom on seven points.

Neuer in FIFA shortlist

The goalkeeper who won the World Cup will be challenging Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or. While the footballer of the year prize has switched between the world’s top scorers since 2008, Manuel Neuer of Germany is the first goalkeeper to make the Ballon d’Or top three since 2006 since. Ronaldo won the 2013 honour, ending Argentina forward Messi’s three-year run as the world’s best player since FIFA and France Football magazine merged their awards.

Messi has broken the Champions League and Spanish league scoring records this month after winning the Golden Ball at the World Cup, but he will end 2014 without a team honour. Argentina lost to Germany in the World Cup final, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Neuer keeping a clean sheet as he followed winning the German league and cup by lifting football’s biggest prize. The last goalkeeper to make the Ballon D’Or top three was Gianluigi Buffon after Italy won the World Cup final in a shootout against France.