Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Dani Alves,
Puyol, Piqué, Maxwell; Xavi, Touré Yaya (Busquets 83'), Iniesta;
Pedro (Keita 59'), Ibrahimovic (Bojan 75'), Henry. 4-3-3.
Espanyol:
Kameni; Roncaglia, Víctor Ruíz, Nico Pareja, Chica;
Forlín, Raúl Baena (Javi Márquez 46'); Coro (Sahar 74'),
Verdú (José Callejón 46'), Luis García; Iván
Alonso. 4-2-3-1.
Goals:
1-0. 39. Ibrahimovic (penalty). After Baena tugged on
Xavi's shirt inside area.
Yellow cards: Forlín 17', Chica 29', Ibrahimovic 30', Baena 37', Piqué 83', Puyol 85'.
Leaders Barcelona extended their unbeaten run in the league this season to 16 games after beating neighbours Espanyol 1-0 on Saturday evening. The visitors came in to the match on the back of four defeats in a row, but they put up a battling performance, and only lost thanks to a controversial penalty which Ibrahimovic converted after Xavi fell in the area following a pull on his shirt by Raúl Baena. After the break the best chances fell to Espanyol, but they were unable to beat a confident Víctor Valdés.