Saturday, December 31, 2022 at 4:04 PM• Guy Habets

Barcelona has lost points in the city derby against Espanyol. Referee Mateu Lahoz turned the game into a battle by giving a penalty and two red cards and missing an obvious third red card, while also scoring twice: 1-1. Marcos Alonso headed the opening goal against the ropes and Joselu scored from the spot after the break.

Trainer Xavi made basic places for Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski. The choice for the Polish striker in particular was a remarkable one, because he was shown a red card during Barcelona’s last league match before the World Cup break and was suspended for three games. However, Barcelona contested that suspension and as no decision has yet been made, Lewandowski is allowed to play. That led to anger among the Espanyol board, which decided to boycott the match at the Spotify Camp Nou. Memphis Depay sat on the bench.

The city derby started very well for Barcelona. After a scrimmage, Andreas Christensen headed the ball towards goal, where Marcos Alonso put his head against the leather just before keeper Álvaro Fernández could intervene: 1-0. That hit los Azulgrana the necessary confidence, because soon chance after chance was stacked and the second goal was also in the air. However, Barça’s attackers did not have their sights set and Raphinha in particular found the Espanyol goalie on his way several times.

After the break, Lewandowski also created the necessary danger. A stone-hard header from the Pole just skimmed past the wrong side of the post for Barcelona and partly due to that missed opportunity and Fernández’s saves, loose Pericos hang in the game. They were rewarded twenty minutes before the end, thanks to referee Mateu Lahoz. He gave a penalty to Espanyol after a tap on Joselu’s heel and thanks to the victim himself it became 1-1 twenty minutes before the end.

??-??! Lahoz gives Espanyol a penalty and it is neatly used by Joselu ??

Barca need to get back to work??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BARESP pic.twitter.com/xS0TMZ8YcF

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) December 31, 2022

That caused the necessary irritation on the side of Barcelona. Strong criticism was leveled at Lahoz, who responded by drawing the necessary yellow cards. Jordi Alba even got two for talking and therefore had to leave with red, but a little later Espanyol also had to deal with the whims of the Spanish referee. Vinicius Souza also saw yellow twice and Leandro Cabrera even seemed to have to leave with a direct red card when he kicked the lying Lewandowski on the head. However, after viewing the footage, Lahoz withdrew the red card, to the astonishment of many.

Here we go again! Lahoz gives Alba a second yellow card for talking and therefore red for the left back ?? #ZiggoSport #LaLiga #BARESP pic.twitter.com/ow57I1Yr0G

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) December 31, 2022

With ten against ten, the fellow townsmen entered the final phase of the match and Barcelona started to get the winning goal on the scoreboard. Keeper Fernández, however, showed his best side by thwarting the necessary scoring opportunities and he was not passed again in the nine minutes of injury time. With one point, Barça remains the leader in LaLiga, but it now has to share that place with Real Madrid. That team previously won this round with 0-2 at Real Valladolid and now, like Barcelona, ​​has 38 points from fifteen games.