February 13, (THEWILL) – Barcelona snatched a point in the Catalan derby against city rivals Espanyol on Sunday night thanks to a last gasp equaliser from super-sub Luuk de Jong that ensured the game finished 2-2.
Within two minutes, Barca had taken the lead with their first attack of the game. Jordi Alba sent in a deep cross from the left that found Pedri, who leapt to meet the ball in mid-air and volleyed in brilliantly.
The atmosphere was tense, as one might expect in a derby, and Espanyol looked more interested with making strong challenges and berating their opponents than equalizing after the early goal.
Barcelona had to wait until the 37th minute for another clear chance, but Adama Traore blasted a shot from within the box straight at the goalie, and the ball was promptly recycled, only for Ferran Torres to head the ball barely past the goal.
Espanyol eventually gathered themselves and levelled the score five minutes before halftime. Sergi Darder, who was spotted in a yard of space on the edge of the Barca box, curled a magnificent strike into the far corner to send the fans packed in the RCDE stadium to jubilation.
Before the break, Barca had two half-chances to reclaim the lead, but Torres’ front-post header flew over the crossbar and Alba misjudged a cross inside the six-yard box, unwittingly clearing it.
When Los Periquitos failed to clear and Gavi lifted a superb finish over Diego Lopez 10 minutes into the second period, the goal was called out following a VAR review because Frenkie de Jong was found to have been offside in the build-up.
Espanyol scored their second four minutes after the hour mark, with Darder involved once more. Raul de Tomas pounced on a fantastic through ball delivered by the former Lyon player over the top of the Barcelona defence, racing in on goal and finishing with ease.
The visitors pushed and puffed but never really created a clear-cut opportunity until well past the 90 minutes of regulation time.
After a needless clash in stoppage time, Gerard Pique was given a second yellow card alongside Nico Melamed of Espanyol, but the drama did not end there.
Surprisingly, Traore’s last-second cross was met by De Jong, who headed the ball into the bottom corner to give Barça a point at the death.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
