Espanyol 0-3 Barcelona: Suarez and Rakitic earn Catalan derby win

The scoreline makes it look easy but this was anything but. Barcelona had to work hard to beat Espanyol and eventually did it thanks to two strikes from Luis Suarez and one from Ivan Rakitic.

Neither player had a great game but they applied the finishes they needed to at the crucial moment, which is what this match was about. Perseverance, persistence, pressure, relentless pressure, until Espanyol finally cracked.

The first half was bereft of much football, although high in tension, with Jose Manuel Jurado missing a good chance early on for the hosts, while Sergi Roberto headed wide from Neymar’s deep cross at the other end.

But in the 50th minute, Espanyol threw away parity when Jurado committed a worse crime than failing to hit the target. He set up Luis Suarez with a sublime assist, from the Uruguayan’s point of view, or a suicidal backpass from anybody else’s.

Suarez ran in on goal and dispatched it with the outside of his right foot, his first goal in six games. The second followed too, at the end, after an Aaron Martin error, with the defender failing to hack the ball away as he mis-kicked a clearance.

“Against this team, it’s not the best day to do it,” said Quique Sanchez Flores, who was frustrated by his team’s errors which marred what might have been an otherwise impressive display, at the back at least.

After Barcelona’s opener the jig was more or less up for the hosts, who had to relax their fierce defensive action to try and attack, with Lionel Messi allowed to breathe for the first time, and the Argentine took advantage.

Good work from Neymar saw the Argentine receive the ball looking up from the centre of the pitch and he carried it, unchecked, into the area before teeing up Rakitic who finished calmly with his left foot.

“We needed a first half like that to play the second,” said Luis Enrique, acknowledging that Barcelona had to wear down their rivals before taking advantage.

And with players who can carry the ball as well as Neymar and Messi, and finish as well as Suarez, the tactics worked and Barcelona pulled level with Real Madrid on 81 points at the top of the table.

The title race continues, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel..