Barcelona restored their nine-point cushion over Atletico Madrid at the top of the La Liga table, as well as their unbeaten run, by beating Real Sociedad 4-2 in a Sunday night thriller.

Luis Suarez was the man of the match, grabbing two goals and an assist as Ernesto Valverde’s men recovered from two goals down in rain-soaked conditions in the north of Spain.

Amazingly, it was Barca’s first league win at Sociedad’s San Sebastian home since 2007, ending a woeful decade-long run of five defeats in seven matches against the Basque side.

First-half goals from Willian Jose and Juanmi had put the hosts in the ascendancy but Paulinho got a goal back before the break following a Suarez cut-back.

The Uruguayan then added two of his own in the second period and Lionel Messi capped things off with a peach of a free-kick late on.

Here, we rate Barcelona stars following the clash at the Anoeta Stadium:

Marc-Andre ter Stegen: Could do nothing to stop either goal, despite his best efforts to jump high and prevent Jose’s header from finding the back of the net for the opener. 6

Sergi Roberto: Should have been more switched on to the run of Jose for his opener and was slow getting to the danger, before allowing Juanmi a march on him for the second. Needs to improve defensively and offer more with his crossing going forward. 5

Gerard Pique: Slightly out of position for the first goal but used his experience well to lead the Barcelona defence in challenging conditions. Picked up an unnecessary booking late on. 6

Thomas Vermaelen: With the arrival of Yerry Mina, the former Arsenal man put in an accomplished display to demonstrate he will fight hard for his place. 6

Jordi Alba: Never stopped running and was his usual self, looking to make things happen from the left-hand side. 6

Ivan Rakitic: Fortunate the officials sided with him and called a foul in his favour when it looked like David Zurutuza had legally dispossessed him in build-up to Sociedad’s disallowed goal. Got about the pitch well but his place is likely to be under threat in coming weeks. 5

Messi pictured before Barca’s fight back at the Anoeta.

Sergio Busquets: A workmanlike performance on his return to the side and added much-needed steal. 6

Andre Gomes: Effective with some lung-busting runs and dribbles down the left-hand side and gave a Barca side devoid of width, much-needed balance. 6

Paulinho: Went to sleep for Sociedad’s opener and was sluggish to track Jose’s run into the box but made amends with eighth league goal of the campaign. 7

Lionel Messi: Never stopped working and probing but Sociedad shackled him well. Set-up Suarez for second and produced moment of magic with amazing free-kick. 7

Luis Suarez: Proving the doubters wrong and simply in stunning form – the 30-year-old has now netted 10 La Liga goals in his past eight league appearances. Terrific pass to Paulinho for Barca’s first, a majestic curling chip to level the match up at 2-2 (reminiscent of Samuel Eto’o all those years ago) and then showed great composure for the winner. 9

Luis Suarez celebrates his superb second goal with Lionel Messi.

SUBSTITUTES:

Ousmane Dembele: Entered the fray in the 65th minute for Paulinho and was neat and tidy but didn’t do too much of note as he regains full match sharpness. 6

Lucas Digne: Came on for Gomes with ten minutes to go to give Barca some fresh legs on a heavy pitch. 5

Denis Suarez: Introduced in the 90th minute but too late to make any kind of impact. 5