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Espanyol de Liga: chronicle, result and goals

BarcelonaDerbies are still uncharted territory no matter how much you explore it. The years continue to pass and the Barcelona derby leaves new episodes to keep alive a centuries-old rivalry between fans who always see everything differently. More than 100 years of derbies, a scenario too juicy for Mateu Lahoz, who has decided to become the star by showing cards crooked and straight and making both lose their roles (1-1). The Valencian referee had already done it in the World Cup, getting rival teams to agree when criticizing his management of the matches. Today, the Barcelona parish ended much more angry, frustrated time and time again with decisions that are difficult to understand. The derby that was supposed to certify that Barça ended the year at the top of the standings has ended up turning into a pot of crickets.

Espanyol have put water in Barça’s wine on the day La Liga returns to Barcelona, ​​and have left Xavi Hernández’s team without the lead alone. Barça will not be able to crunch the grapes with joy, penalized for their poor aim and for an almost comical refereeing, while Espanyol will celebrate a draw. It seems like a small thing, but it’s not. In a match that ended tensely, Espanyol ended up happier. It was good for him that it was a slow-paced match, with mud and little speed. On the other hand, Barça cannot be satisfied with their game. When he had the visitors suffering inside his area, he did not finish them off with a second goal. In derbies you can never forgive the opponent, because these matches have a life of their own. Matches that follow inscrutable, surprising paths. As much as the arbitration of Mateu Lahoz.

It has been a two-speed derby. Barça wanted to run and were in a hurry to get the job done quickly. But he didn’t do it and ended up imposing the slow rhythm of an Espanyol who recovered after a slow start, broke the rhythm of Barça and found a prize in a clear penalty from Marcos Alonso to Joselu. Marcos Alonso’s was a two-sided game. His face came out first, when he scored Barça’s goal. Then he misjudged the distances and stepped on Joselu, leaving him without a boot. And Barça ended up losing their roles, unable to cope with the excessive prominence of Mateu Lahoz, who did not have enough of infuriating the Dutch and Argentines at the World Cup, when half the planet discovered his particular refereeing style. Others, like Jordi Alba, have known him for a long time. But they remain just as altered. Mateu Lahoz’s refereeing is especially against teams that want to play, that don’t want to spend too much time in unnecessary dialogue.

Lewandowski is Braithwaite

The derby, half-forgotten on a strange date after the World Cup media tsunami, had heated up bravely once it had been made public that Robert Lewandowski could play it. One more episode to fatten the long list of episodes that separate the two clubs. At the time of truth, however, the Pole tiptoed through the game, beyond a poorly made header that ended up becoming Barça’s goal. He opened up spaces, he looked to hunt crosses, but he didn’t have his day in a Barça where Ansu Fati and Raphinha were more dangerous. The other striker who could be the big star of the day, Martin Braithwaite, hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary either. The Dane, after changing neighborhoods in Barcelona, ​​hasn’t touched the ball much either. The job was done by Joselu, who invented the penalty kick with a delicious touch, which he himself transformed.

It has been a strange derby. They usually are, lately, now that there are no rival fans in the two stadiums. Strange, with a half-opened Camp Nou that announces the changes that will come in the future in the stands. Strange, like this sun too pleasant to be the last day of the year. And strange as the refereeing of Mateu Lahoz, who seems to know the rules well but who likes to draw attention too much. Barça, with De Jong playing in midfield with Gavi and Pedri, punished Espanyol in a first half hour in which they could have struck more than once. Marcos Alonso has only succeeded in a corner very poorly defended by the white-and-blues. In the first half, only Nico Melamed in an isolated move brought danger to the Barça goal. Espanyol survived and waited. Barça tried, but Ansu Fati is still a bit sad and Raphinha is not quite right in the face of goal, conceding two clear ones. Barça have missed the goals of Lewandowski, who has always been watched by the visiting defense. Led by De Jong, who was very present in the game, Barça moved away from the area of ​​a Spanish team that gradually became more assertive, defending better, aware that they had survived a start where they were too all within your own area.

The introduction of Dembélé and Ferran for Ansu and Raphinha was not the step forward Barça needed to decide the game. Dembélé did not have the day in a match that seemed like pre-season, at times, after so many weeks without a league. If the Frenchman wanted to forget the World Cup final, he has not succeeded. And with Edu Exposito and Puado on the field to give Espanyol more verticality, the derby was slowly heading towards a dramatic scenario. Each missed opportunity by Barça made the stadium’s nails bite, and finally Marcos committed the clear penalty to Joselu. The goal hurt Barça. It was like a low blow. And Jordi Alba has ended up expelled for protesting a Mateu who already knew that everyone was looking at him. Shortly after, he sent off two Espanyol players in two seconds, Vini Souza and Cabrera. One of them, Cabrera, was pardoned after reviewing on the VAR screen an action in which he hit Lewandowski, who was already on the ground.

Barça, injured, ended up harassing a Spaniard who had a big party with this point. Not so much for the fact of adding a point as for its symbolic value. And Álvaro Fernández, who had looked like an insecure goalkeeper throughout the first half, ended up learning from the lessons of Kameni’s past to deny the winning goal to a Barça that ended up indignant, both with Mateu Lahoz – who had warned Xavi – and at himself for not completing the work in the first part.

  • FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (Bucket 82′), Christensen, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba; Gavi (Sergio Busquets, 52′), Frenkie de Jong (Kounde (82′), Pedri; Raphinha (Dembele (62′), Lewandowski, Ansu Fati (Ferran Torres 62′).
  • Spanish RCD: Álvaro Fernández; Óscar Gil (Rubén Sánchez 89′), Sergi Gómez, Cabrera, Oliván (Aleix Vidal 89′); Vini de Souza, Calero (Expósito 57′); Nico Melamed (Puado 57′), Darder, Braithwaite (Simo 86′), Joselu
  • Goals: 1-0 Marcos Alonso (7′) and 1-1 Joselu from penalty (73′)
  • Referee: Mateu Lahoz (Valencia). TG Ansu Fati (25′), Gavi (30′), Oliván (30′), Cabrera (31′), Calero (54′), Expósito (74′), Vini Souza (74′), Jordi Alba (74′ ), Ferran Torres (75′), Pedri (76′), Alba (78′), Vini de Souza (81′), Expósito (81), Raphinha (90’+5), Puado (90’+6), Xavi (90’+6). TV: Alba (78′) and Vini de Souza (81′).
  • Spectators: 88,095 at Spotify Camp Nou

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