Barcelona 3:1 Espanyol (November 3, 2024) Match analysis

LaLiga leaders Barcelona beat Espanyol 3-1 in the Catalan derby on Sunday thanks to a first-half brace from Dani Olmo and a goal from Raphinha, extending their unbeaten streak against their local rivals to 27 games.

The win puts Barça nine points clear of Real Madrid, who did not play in Valencia this weekend after the game was postponed due to the devastating floods in the region. Espanyol is in 17th place, one point above the relegation zone.

Barça, who beat Real Madrid 4-0 last weekend, could have kept another clean sheet but Javi Puado scored for Espanyol, who were unlucky to have two goals disallowed for minor offside calls by the video referee.

“We are making progress step by step, it is very important to keep winning. We've had a good week. “Espanyol didn’t plan to come here and give us anything, but we got the three points, so our mission is accomplished,” Olmo said.

“We are a team that scores a lot of goals, both up front and in midfield. We decided to play directly and create lots of chances in every game.”

Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images

---

Barça dominated possession from the start and almost scored an early goal with a beautiful pass, but Olmo's header from the center of the box went over the goal and gave Espanyol a breathing space.

A few moments later, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal played him through with a magnificent pass with the outside of his left shoe, and Olmo shot the ball into the goal for the first time, scoring the first goal.

Barça's second goal came from another great assist from near the center circle as Marc Casadó lobbed over the defense to find Raphinha, who fired his shot over the onrushing goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Espanyol thought they had halved the lead when Jofre Carreras scored after a counter-attack, but his goal was canceled by VAR as right-back Omar El Hilali was offside.

Barça then rubbed salt in the wound when a free-standing Olmo found space outside the penalty area, pulled the trigger and hit the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Joan García to open the scoring for his fifth LaLiga goal in five games this season.

Olmo had no opportunity to score a hat-trick when Hansi Flick pulled him back in the 10th minute of the second half, while Espanyol ruled out another goal as Barca's well-oiled offside trap came to their rescue once again.

Espanyol eventually broke the trap and Carlos Romero found Puado, who managed to score past Iñaki Peña into Barça's goal.

Barça were not as effective in attack in the second half, especially after Olmo's withdrawal, but Flick's team was enough to take the three points.

“In the first half they found each other easily in the middle and had a shot from outside the penalty area. We changed that and corrected it in the second half,” said Puado.

“You have to play a perfect game against these teams. Otherwise it's difficult to win, especially when it's 3-0; it’s difficult to come back.”