Barcelona clinched a last-minute equalizer to escape an imminent defeat at the Catalonia derby.
Espanyol held Barcelona to a 2-2 draw in their La Liga game on Sunday. Despite the underwhelming result, the Blaugrana leapfrogged Atletico Madrid to go fourth in La Liga on goal difference.
Luuk de Jong to rescue!
Barcelona started the game with a second-minute opener from Pedri as they stunned the hosts with their initial rhythm. However, as the game proceeded, Espanyol found more and more ways to get behind Barca’s backline.
Following a few half-chances, the Parakeets finally scored the equalizer five minutes before the interval. Sergi Darder cut inside on the edge of Barca’s box before sending a curled effort past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Xavi Hernandez’s side started their efforts to restore their lead as soon as the second half started. However, their shaky backline, once again, exposed their risky approach to the game. A brilliant long pass from Sergi Darder found Raul de Tomas, who smashed the ball into the back of the net after drifting past Raul Garcia.
Barca pushed hard to come back into the game, but it seemed Espanyol were on their way to win their first derby against Barcelona since the 2006-07 campaign.
Both sides went down a man after the referee sent Gerard Pique and Nico Melamed off for a head to head fight. Barcelona, however, did not give up on their efforts to salvage the night, and they managed to do so in the final minute.
Following an inch-perfect cross from Adama Traore, Luuk de Jong made it 2-2 with a pinpoint header past Lopez. Espanyol’s frustration after conceding the equalizer resulted in them losing another player. Morales received a straight red card in the final stages of the game to complete the Parakeets’ ruined night.
The draw was enough to send Barcelona to fourth place on the league table. On the other hand, Espanyol continued their run of six winless games as they remained 13th in La Liga.
Barcelona will now prepare to face Napoli in a Europa League clash on Thursday, while Espanyol must host Sevilla in La Liga three days later.
Player Ratings
Espanyol: Lopez (6); Vidal (7), Gomez (6), Cabrera (6), Pedrosa (6); Vilhena (6), Bare (5), Herrera (7), Darder (8); Puado (6), De Tomas (8).
Bench: Melamed (4), Calero (5), Morlanes (5), Merida (6).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6); Dest (6), Araujo (6), Pique (5), Alba (8); F. De Jong (6), Busquets (7), Pedri (7); Traore (8), Torres (6), Gavi (6).
Bench: Gonzalez (6), Garcia (5), L. De Jong (7), Aubameyang (6), Dembele (6).
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