Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol: Yamal stars in Catalan derby with 1 goal & 2 assists

Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal starred as Barcelona triumphed 4-1 over rivals Espanyol on Saturday, moving nine points clear of Real Madrid in LaLiga's title race. 

Match Report

Ferran put the Blaugrana ahead after just nine minutes, meeting Yamal's curling corner with an open header after a careless bit of goalkeeping from Marko Dmitrovic. 

The duo then replicated the feat just over 15 minutes later on the counter as Yamal's weighted through-ball picked out Ferran's checked run, allowing the striker to deftly roll the ball beyond a helpless Dmitrovic. 

Yamal came close to adding a third just six minutes later when his curling free-kick dipped up and over the Espanyol wall and onto the top netting, while Dmitrovic stood tall to deny a long-range piledriver from Eric Garcia. 

Barcelona thought they finally had their third when Garcia met Yamal's chipped cross with a simple pass for Ferran to fire home, but the goal was chalked off for offside against Garcia. 

Espanyol rallied and pulled one back in the 56th minute, helped by some pedestrian defending inside the Barcelona box, which allowed an untroubled Pol Lozano to laser a low shot into the bottom left corner. 

Chances fell few and far between from there before Barcelona added gloss to the scoreline late on, with Yamal getting on the scoresheet in the 87th minute with a simple tap-in after some clumsy play from Dmitrovic. 

Substitute Marcus Rashford then applied the finishing touches, collecting an exceptional pass from Frenkie de Jong before firing a precise low drive into the bottom corner on the turn. 

Data Debrief: Yamal breaks new ground once more 

Even before his dazzling performance on the pitch, Yamal had already made history on Saturday. 

At 18 years and 272 days, the Spaniard became the youngest player to reach 100 LaLiga appearances, surpassing Raul (19y 284d) and Iker Muniain (19y 293d). 

Hansi Flick also made history, becoming just the second manager in the history of the Derbi Barceloni to win his first four matches in the league. The only other to do so was Helenio Herrera, who won his first five between 1958 and 1980. 

In the end, Barcelona made their dominance count after posting 2.81 expected goals (xG), while Espanyol registered 1.17 xG of their own. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

6' Fermin’s shot is over

10' Ferran finally on the score sheet again after 70 days! Barcelona 1-0 Espanyol

13' Joan denies Kike Garcia

17' Match Event for Barcelona vs Espanyol

20' Espanyol foul on Gavi

25' GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol (Ferran Torres)

30' Pedri is brought down just outside the box

32' Lamine’s free-kick is good but just over the bar, hitting the roof of the net!

40' Dmitrovic repeats the save from Fermin’s rebound

45' Casado in, Martin off

48' Lamine producing his magic again

55' Ferran scores but offside first

56' GOAL! Barcelona 2-1 Espanyol

68' HUGE chance missed by Rashford

70' Highlight from Barcelona vs Espanyol

74' Match Event for Barcelona vs Espanyol

84' Substitution: Frenkie makes his return, replacing Fermin

87' GOAL! Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol

89' GOAL! Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol

Line-ups

Barcelona XI: Ferran Torres, Araujo, Eric Garcia, Pedri, Joan García, Balde, Gavi, Fermín López, Yamal, Gerard Martín, Cubarsi

Subs: Szczesny, Lewandowski, Cancelo, Olmo, De Jong, Rashford, Kounde, Casado, Roony Bardghji, Álvaro Cortés, Xavi Espart, Eder Aller

Espanyol XI: Kike, Cabrera, Dmitrovic, Pol Lozano, Calero, Exposito, Cyril Ngonge, Tyrhys Dolan, Urko González de Zárate, Omar El Hilali, Carlos Romero

Subs: Rubén Sánchez, Pere Milla, Charles Pickel, Miguel Rubio, Pol Tristán, Jofre Carreras, Ramón Terrats, José Salinas, Ángel Fortuño, Antoniu Roca, Roberto Fernández