BARCELONA FAILED TO regain their two-point lead at the top of La Liga after Wu Lei scored a late equaliser for Espanyol in a 2-2 derby draw that saw Frenkie de Jong sent off for the visitors.
The champions fell behind 23 minutes into a contest they dominated but in which their best football was rarely in evidence against the division’s bottom club.
Thankfully for Ernesto Valverde, Luis Suarez was at his lethal best, instinctively making it 1-1 shortly before he brilliantly teed up Arturo Vidal for Barcelona’s second.
But after De Jong was shown a second yellow card, Espanyol ramped up the pressure and Wu clinched a precious point for LaLiga’s bottom club as he became the first Chinese player to score against Barca in a competitive game.
The result leaves the champions level on points with Real Madrid at the top of the table at the midway point of the season.
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