How Barcelona wasted a victory that was very much in their hands
Barcelona drew 2–2 with Espanyol in a hard-fought Catalan Derby at the RCDE Stadium to finish in the La Liga Top 4 for the second week in a row.
Barça performed brilliantly in the first half and should have put the game out of reach, but they let their local rivals rally and take the lead, requiring a late goal from substitute Luuk De Jong to salvage a point and keep them in fourth place for another few days.
Barça had 25 minutes to find an equalizer, and seeing them show no imagination and move the ball sideways until they played a cross into the area was disappointing.
Things became worse as we approached injury time when Gerard Piqué was sent off, but Xavi’s Barça never give up and found a way to salvage a point when a cross from Adama Traoré hit the head of Luuk De Jong, who scored a crucial equalizer in the 96th minute.
The final whistle blew, and Barça secured a crucial point in the Derby to keep them in the Top 4.
