A bizarre second-half free-kick by Lionel Messi and a late second from the Argentine saw Barcelona edge out Espanyol in the Catalan derby at Camp Nou in La Liga on Saturday.
Barca were frustrated by an ultra-defensive Espanyol side for much of a sunny afternoon as the visitors sat deep with a five-man defence.
Messi and Luis Suarez came close to opening the scoring in a one-sided first half in which Ivan Rakitic also drove a shot wide from just outside the box.
Ernesto Valverde’s side tried to step up the intensity after the break and Messi saw a strike ruled out for a Jordi Alba offside earlier in the move.
Philippe Coutinho later blasted over the bar from just inside the box and substitute Malcom forced Espanyol goalkeeper Diego Lopez into a fine save at his far post.
But the breakthrough finally came after 71 minutes when Barca won a free-kick inches outside the Espanyol area.
Messi chipped a shot towards Lopez’s left-hand post and the goalkeeper looked like he would get there, but defender Victor Sanchez headed the ball past his team-mate from just in front of the line in a botched attempt at a clearance which will probably go down as the Argentine's goal but may not have gone in without the centre-back's clumsy intervention.
Either way, it was another goal made by Messi and the captain kissed the Barca badge as he received the applause from his fans.
And just before the end, the Argentine scored again, this time latching onto a slick pass by Malcom to slot a low shot past Lopez in the 89th minute.
The derby win sees Barca move provisionally 13 points clear of Atletico at the top of the table after 29 games, with Espanyol down in 14th place but comfortably clear of the relegation zone.
