Espanyol strike late to hold Barca

Madrid, January 5

Barcelona were pegged back by La Liga’s bottom club Espanyol as Wu Lei struck late to secure a dramatic 2-2 draw in a thrilling Catalan derby.

Luis Suarez appeared to have inspired another turnaround at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday after he cancelled out David Lopez’s opener with a deft half-volley before digging out an exquisite pass for substitute Arturo Vidal to finish.

But a red card for Frenkie de Jong with 16 minutes left gave Espanyol renewed hope and Chinese forward Wu emerged the hero, firing past stand-in goalkeeper Neto to rescue a point in Abelardo Fernandez’s first game in charge.

“De Jong’s sending off hurt us,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. “We could have scored a third and then in one play we conceded. We had the game under control. The red card unsettled us a little.” Barcelona remain top of the table but only on goal difference, their two-point advantage removed after Real Madrid earlier clinched an impressive 3-0 win away at Getafe.

Atletico Madrid moved up to third after beating Levante 2-1. — AFP