Barca undefeated
Gerard Pique headed home a late equaliser for Barcelona against Catalan rivals Espanyol to earn his side a 1-1 draw in Cornella and maintain their unbeaten La Liga record on Sunday.
The defender, whistled throughout after making provocative comments which upset Espanyol fans after Barcelona knocked their rivals out of the King’s Cup in January, buried Lionel Messi’s free kick.
Ernesto Valverde had started the Argentine on the bench as he rotated his side but threw Messi on in the second half as Barcelona struggled to break down a stubborn Espanyol on a waterlogged pitch in driving rain.
Gerard Moreno headed home Sergio Garcia’s inch-perfect cross in the 66th minute to give Espanyol hope of repeating their King’s Cup first-leg win over Barcelona but Pique had the final say to move his side provisionally 12 points clear at the top of the table.
Barcelona have now gone a club record 22 league games unbeaten, surpassing the total of 21 they managed under Pep Guardiola in the 2009-10 season.
“We were not able to take the three points but the conditions weren’t the best,” Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta told beIN Sports. “It was an entertaining derby. I wouldn’t say the pitch affected us too much, we adapted well.
“There were waterlogged zones but we made a great effort and came back from 1-0 down.”
Espanyol saw off their arch-rivals by one goal in the first leg of the King’s Cup quarter-final but could not repeat the trick here, with the visitors fighting back as they did in the second part of the cup tie.
After eliminating Espanyol Pique mocked them, saying that following their move to a new stadium in 2009 they were now a team from Cornella, on the outskirts of Barcelona, rather than from the city itself. Espanyol later reported his comments to Spanish football’s anti-violence committee.
However Pique was the winner this time, with his late goal frustrating the hosts in their bid to climb the table and move out of danger.
Earlier, Eibar crushed Sevilla 5-1 in the Spanish league, while Real Betis forward Loren Moron scored twice in his debut.
Eibar outclassed an inexperienced Sevilla side that included Sandro Ramirez, Miguel Layun and Roque Mesa making their debuts following their arrivals in the final days of the January transfer market.
Fabian Orellana led Eibar with two goals. Enrique Garcia, Ivan Ramis and Anaitz Arbilla also netted for the Basque Country hosts.
Pablo Sarabia got Sevilla’s only goal from the penalty spot in the first half to make it 2-1. Sevilla coach Vicenzo Montella has managed to win once only in five rounds since replacing Eduardo Berizzo.
Sevilla faces an important match on Wednesday when it hosts Leganes in the return leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals after a 1-1 draw in the first match.
“I want to ask our fans to forgive us (for the loss), but I am sure that if we stay united we can reach the final (of the cup),” Montella said.
Eibar, whose budget of around 50 million euros is a third of Sevilla’s, climbed to seventh place and to just one point behind Sevilla in sixth after losing only once in its last 11 league matches.
Eibar coach Jose Mendilibar said his team’s performance was among its very best since the club joined the first division 3 1/2 seasons ago.
“Given the rival, the way we played, the occasions we created, what we didn’t let them do . today we played a complete match in every sense,” Mendilibar said. — Reuters/AP