Barcelona continued their impressive form with a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Olmo’s brace and Raphinha’s strike ensured Barcelona extended their lead at the top of LaLiga and maintained their unbeaten record against Espanyol.
While Barcelona celebrated a derby victory and extended their lead at the top of LaLiga, Espanyol remain precariously close to the relegation zone. The defeat leaves them just one point above the bottom three, highlighting the contrasting fortunes of the two Catalan clubs.
Puado’s goal for Espanyol denied Barcelona back-to-back clean sheets. However, VAR played a crucial role in the match, disallowing two Espanyol goals for marginal offsides.
Olmo was pleased with Barcelona’s professional performance and their ability to grind out a result against a determined Espanyol side. “It’s very important to keep winning,” he emphasized. Despite the challenges posed by Espanyol, Barcelona ultimately achieved their objective.
Olmo highlighted Barcelona’s potent attack, stating, “We’re a side that can score goals from all over the pitch.” Their attacking prowess was evident from the start, as they dominated possession and nearly opened the scoring with a well-worked move that culminated in Olmo heading over the bar.
Olmo opened the scoring for Barcelona, finishing off a brilliant move with a clinical strike. The goal was created by a delightful outside-of-the-boot pass from the young talent, Lamine Yamal.
Barcelona continued to dominate, and their second goal arrived in spectacular fashion. Casado’s perfectly weighted lobbed pass found Raphinha, who expertly chipped the onrushing goalkeeper to double their advantage. Espanyol thought they had pulled a goal back through Carreras, but VAR intervened to rule it out for offside. Olmo then added a third for Barcelona, capitalizing on some space outside the box to fire a powerful shot past Garcia.
Espanyol refused to give up despite trailing by three goals. They continued to push forward and were unlucky once again when another goal was ruled out for offside. However, their persistence paid off when Puado finally found the back of the net. Although Barcelona’s attacking intensity waned in the second half, they had already done enough to secure the win.
Espanyol’s goalscorer, Javi Puado, acknowledged Barcelona’s dominance in the first half, particularly their ability to control the midfield and create chances. “They were finding each other easily in the middle,” he admitted. However, he noted that Espanyol made adjustments in the second half to limit Barcelona’s effectiveness.
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