Neymar completed Barcelona's win with his first La Liga goal since 2 October
Defending champions Barcelona maintained the pressure on Spanish title rivals Real Madrid and Sevilla with a routine win at mid-table Eibar.
Substitute Denis Suarez, who replaced the injured Sergio Busquets, opened the scoring with a crisp 20-yard drive.
Barca increased the tempo after the break, doubling their lead when Lionel Messi cushioned in Luis Suarez's pass.
Luis Suarez robbed defender Florian Lejeune to drill in clinically before Neymar converted an injury-time cross.
Victory moved third-placed Barca two points behind leaders Madrid, and a point adrift of Sevilla, at the halfway stage of the Spanish season.
Madrid - who edged past Malaga at the Bernabeu on Saturday - still have a game in hand on their nearest rivals though, after missing a league game in December when they took part in the Club World Cup.
Victory comes at a price for Barca
Barcelona's players and medical staff surround the stricken Busquets
While Barcelona coach Luis Enrique will be pleased with his team's professionalism in seeing off ninth-placed Eibar, he was less than happy at seeing holding midfielder Sergio Busquets taken off on a stretcher inside the opening 10 minutes.
The Spain international, 28, fell to the ground instantly when an over-the-ball challenge caught him on the right ankle.
He received treatment on the field before being lifted on to a stretcher by medical staff and carried off down the tunnel.
Barca later confirmed Busquets had sprained an ankle ligament and would have more tests on Monday to determine the severity of the injury.
Enrique, who is already without skipper Andres Iniesta through injury, appeared to be positive about the loss of another key member of his midfield trio.
"We leave here with one piece of bad news which is Busquets's injury although it's not as serious as we thought," he said.
Eibar continue to suffer against Barca
Eibar, a tiny Basque club who attract crowds of fewer than 6,000 and generate a fraction of Barcelona's vast income, are one of Spanish football's remarkable success stories.
They reached the top flight for the first time in 2014, but their promotion was only ratified after they raised 1.7m euros (£1.35m) to meet the league's demands over the amount of working capital generated by a club.
Eibar narrowly avoided relegation in their debut season, going on to finish a credible 14th last year, and are aiming for an even higher final placing this time.
However, their miserable record continued against Barca as they were condemned to another heavy defeat by the 24-time Spanish champions.
Eibar have lost 3-0, 2-0, 3-1, 4-0 and 4-0 in their five meetings with Barcelona
What's next?
Back to Copa del Rey action for both clubs. Holders Barcelona host Real Sociedad on Thursday with a 1-0 lead in their two-legged quarter-final.
Eibar, playing in their first quarter-final, will try to overturn a 3-0 deficit at home to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
In the other two ties, Real Madrid trail 2-1 as they visit Celta Vigo and Alaves start with a 2-0 lead at home to second division Alcorcon.
- Published21 January 2017
- Published22 January 2017
