Madrid, January 1 (IANS). The match between FC Barcelona and Espanyol ended in a 1-1 draw. Marcos Alonso scored for Barcelona in the sixth minute while Joselu’s second-half penalty saved a point for Espanyol.
Barca were unable to create any chances in the first half, which will also be remembered for a chaotic performance by referee Mateu Lahoj, who lost control of the game in the final 10 minutes, eventually showing seven yellow and three red cards. VAR corrected a straight red card shown to Espanyol defender Leandro Cabrara, reports Xinhua news agency.
Barcelona are now level on points with Real Madrid, who earned a 2-0 win over Valladolid on Friday with two goals from Karim Benzema, the first of which came from the penalty spot.
Real Sociedad consolidated their position in third place with a 2-0 win at home to Osasuna thanks to an opening goal from Brice Mendez in the 22nd minute. Mendez then set up Alexandre Sorloth for La Real’s second in the 64th minute.
Juan Foyth’s 88th-minute header earned Villarreal a 2–1 victory in a tough derby against Valencia.
Edinson Cavani put Valencia ahead in the 21st minute of the match, but Samuel Chukwueze scored after an excellent counter-attack just before half-time.
Both sides had chances after the break, but Foyth’s header after an error by Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili decided the match.
HMA/RR
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