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Barcelona see off Espanyol through Neymar and Messi despite Alba’s red
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Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol 2-0 despite the dismissal of Jordi Alba early in the second half.
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Neymar followed up his two goals against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday by slotting home after Luis Suárez dummied an Alba cross inside the area to open the scoring after 17 minutes.
With Barça picking holes in the Espanyol defence, Lionel Messi doubled the lead from a tight angle after 25 minutes.
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Alba was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after 53 minutes for a lengthy dispute with the referee, but Espanyol failed to apply any concerted pressure on the Barça backline in the remainder of the match.
Xavi came on for the final three minutes for his 500th La Liga appearance for Barça and deep in stoppage time Espanyol’s Héctor Moreno was also sent off after being given a second yellow card.
Barça lead La Liga with 81 points, five more than Real Madrid who play Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Andrés Iniesta said: “It was a complete game from us and in order to win a derby then you have to play like that. The best part of the season is still to come and the hard bit as well. They are all finals from here on and there won’t be much between the teams.”
Espanyol’s defence had been cut open from the start with Neymar having a shot from a tight angle saved by Kiko Casilla in the home goal after just two minutes.
Suárez had a header from close range parried by Casilla and then Neymar flicked a ball by Messi past the keeper but also over the crossbar.
It appeared only a matter of time before Barça scored and the goal was expertly executed, demonstrating the superb understanding between their fearsome frontline with Suárez leaving the ball for Neymar to finish.
Suárez was involved in the second goal as he played a ball across the area to Messi who finished clinically past Casilla with little angle to aim at.
Further chances fell to Barça in the second half, notably a shot by Messi that hit a post, and the result never appeared in doubt.
