FC Barcelona missed the chance to move three points clear of Real Madrid after dropping points against city rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou.
LaLiga
Result: Barcelona 1-1 Espanyol
Date: 31 December 2022
Venue: Camp Nou
Robert Lewandowski was allowed to feature after the Catalan giants appealed his three-game ban, which meant the initial punish was suspended.
Xavi Hernandez's side got off to a perfect start when Marcos Alonso opened the scoring after seven minutes with a close-range header after being set up by Andreas Christensen.
The home side should have had a second goal on 18 minutes when Jordi Alba did well to pick out Alonso in the box, but the defender sent his volley wide of the mark.
Espanyol, meanwhile, struggled to get a foot on the ball in the first half, but they did carve out an opening on 33 minutes when Melamed saw his low strike sail just side of the upright.
Xavi's troops pushed for a second goal in the latter stages of the first half, but Espanyol defended well to keep the score at 1-0 at the interval.
Ten minutes into the second half, Lewandowski had the chance to double the advantage after getting on the end of Sergi Roberto's cross but his header sailed wide of the upright.
Espanyol were awarded a lifeline in the 73rd minute after being awarded a penalty for Alonso's push on Joselu, who stepped up and converted the spot-kick.
After losing their lead, Barcelona were reduced to ten men with 12 minutes to go as Alba picked up a second yellow card for something he said to the referee.
Although, the numbers were evened up moments later up when Espanyol's Vinícius Souza was given his marching orders while Leandro Cabrera had his straight red overturned by the Video Assistant Referee.
Barcelona threw bodies forward in search of a winning goal after nine minutes of time was added on, but Espanyol defended with ten men behind the ball to hold on for a point.
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