Goals from Neymar and Lionel Messi were enough to secure a comfortable 2-0 victory over their rivals Espanyol in the Derbi Barceloni following some fantastic goals coming from both players apart.

It didn't take long for the more dominant side of the Catalan city to take the lead as Neymar did that in the 17th minute. Brilliant football which started with Lionel Messi giving a glorious pass down the edge into the box for Jordi Alba as the left-back later cutted a pass back into the box. Luis Suarez was able to cleverly dummy the defender which allowed the Brazilian to finish expertly past Casilla to give the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona would double their lead some 8 minutes later from Lionel Messi. Following one-touch football from Suarez and Andres Iniesta, the Spaniard eventually clipped a cross to the back post and Messi expertly took a touch down near the byline and then found a strike under the oncoming Casilla into the back of the net. In a first half where Barcelona completely controlled possession for a majority of the match, a few chances from Felipe Caicedo were there, but Claudio Bravo was able to stop any chances coming for the other Catalan club.

In the second half, Barcelona continued to maintain possession even with a few Espanyol chances early in the half as Caicedo again was unable to take any advantage. In the 55th minute, Jordi Alba was sent off following a first yellow card for kicking the ball away in frustration. He later went into disagreement with the referee in which he had no choice but to give the left back a second yellow and made Barça play the remainder of the match with 10 men. 

If it appeared that Espanyol were able to take advantage from this lifeline, they were in for a treat. 2 minutes later, Barcelona would get another big chance as Messi collected the ball in the edge of the box and then attempted to squeeze a strike towards the bottom corner, only for his chance to go directly off the post.

Espanyol would have some chances, especially one coming from Stuani who was able to get into the box following some great build up play but he ends up skying his attempt way over the bar from 12 yards. They didn't take advantage and score remained as such with a win for the Blaugrana.

As it stands, Barcelona remain top of the table with a five point gap between rivals Real Madrid with a game in hand. Lionel Messi puts his goalscoring tally to 36, three below Cristiano Ronaldo for the Pichichi and now will face Getafe midweek and Cordoba next weekend before their clash against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Espanyol on the other hand remain 10th in La Liga and will now face Granada and Rayo Vallecano within the two matchdays. 

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About the author
Roberto Rojas
Writing about the beautiful game. Cohost of the @LowLimitFutbol Podcast.