Sergi Darder canceled out Pedri’s opener before Raul de Tomas put Espanyol ahead and then Luuk de Jong equalised in the second minute of injury-time.
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Luuk de Jong’s last-gasp goal helped Barcelona snatch a point against Espanyol in the La Liga fixture at RCDE Stadium on Sunday. It was a dramatic encounter in Cornella which saw four goals and three red cards. The came as a relief for the Catalan Club but halted its good run after consecutive league wins against Alaves and defending Champions Atletico Madrid. Sergi Darder canceled out Pedri’s opener before Raul de Tomas put Espanyol ahead and then Luuk equalised in the second minute of injury-time.
Also read: Juventus news: Danilo’s last-gasp equaliser helps Juve rescue a point against Atalanta
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Barca had a dream start to the match as Pedri put them in front inside the opening two minutes. The Spanish midfielder volleyed home from left-back Jordi Alba’s deep cross to give Barca the lead. After the half-hour mark, Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez managed to keep out Adama Traore’s powerful shot from inside the box.
On 40 minutes, Espanyol leveled the score through Darder’s superb strike from outside the box. The Spanish playmaker’s brilliant curler from the left side went past Marc ter Stegen and ended up in the far bottom corner.
Ten minutes after the restart, the visitors thought they had restored the lead when Gavi Paez found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. However, the hosts completed the turnaround in the 64th minute.
Darder’s long overhead ball from the midfield found the run of De Tomas, who controlled the ball on his chest, got inside the box and slotted home past Ter stegen to make the score 2-1.
Espanyol were just sixty seconds away from securing their first win against the Catalan club in 23 attempts when substitute Luuk spoiled the party. The Dutchman jumped higher than anyone in the box, got on the end of Traore’ cross from the right and headed the ball past Lopez and into the net.
The result was enough to move Barcelona into the fourth spot with 39 points from 23 games, 15 points behind league leaders Real Madrid. Meanwhile Espanyol are sitting in the 13th spot with 28 points from 24 games.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed were sent off in the stoppage time after getting into altercation.
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