Barcelona emerged victorious from a feisty local derby against Espanyol thanks to a controversial late penalty from Lionel Messi.
Espanyol, who had goalkeeper Kiko Casilla sent off in a frantic finale, will feel aggrieved after more than playing their part in an absorbing contest, but Barca showed real grit to grind out three points which could prove crucial in the title race.
The opening period was a tale of missed chances, with both sides squandering opportunities to open the scoring.
The first of those came in the fourth minute, when Dani Alves advanced down Barca’s right and delivered a deep cross to Neymar, who should have done better than head straight into the arms of Casilla.
The visitors proceeded to dominate the early exchanges, with Messi getting his first sight of goal after a slick move involving Alves and Pedro, but the Argentine couldn’t generate enough power on his stabbed effort to trouble Casilla.
An even better chance came when Alves broke the offside trap by lofting a pass over Espanyol’s defensive line, but Messi couldn’t keep his header down and it landed on the roof of the net.
The hosts had been quiet but burst into life when Sergio Garcia clipped a ball into the stride of Pizzi, who controlled well but snatched at his shot.
The pulsating pace continued as Barca broke forward, with Xavi releasing Alves and the full-back delivering a low cross for Neymar, who somehow managed to fire over from point blank range, with the Brazilian ending up in the back of the net but the ball in Row Z.
A strong blustery wind was making controlled passing difficult, and it also caused problems for Barca keeper Jose Manuel Pinto when a long punt forward by Diego Colotto nearly caught him out, with the stand-in keeper having to backtrack and grab the bouncing ball on the goalline.
A more conventional chance then came Espanyol’s way when the excellent Garcia raced down the right and delivered an inch-perfect low cross into the stride of Pizzi, who slashed his first-time effort badly over the top.
The early stages of the second period were scrappy, with neither team able to exert control or create chances.
Messi had a shot blocked and Pedro’s acrobatic follow-up was grabbed by Casilla in a rare outbreak of goalmouth action, and Barca then came agonisingly close when Sergio Busquets flicked on Xavi’s corner and Gerard Pique volleyed against the crossbar.
With Barca enjoying a territorial advantage, the game’s decisive moment came when Alves delivered a cross towards Neymar and home right-back Javi Lopez intervened, but referee Carlos Clos Gomez ruled he had used his hand and pointed to the spot.
Just as he did to win last weekend’s Clasico, Messi stepped up to convert the penalty, calmly sending Casilla the wrong way.
Neymar had a rising drive tipped over the bar by Casilla, who then saw red after Andres Iniesta released Messi and the home goalkeeper raced out to swat away the attempted chip well outside his area, forcing Lopez to don the gloves for the final stages.
