Barcelona were held to a draw by local rivals Espanyol in a wild New Year’s Eve derby at the Nou Camp, in which Marcos Alonso played a significant role.
Barca took the lead after seven minutes thanks to Marcos Alonso, but a Joselu penalty cut their lead in half.
Espanyol’s Vinicius Souza received a red card in the tense game, while FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alba received a second caution.
The referee also showed Leandro Cabrera of Espanyol a red card, but VAR overturned the decision.
Despite the loss, Barcelona reclaimed first place in La Liga from Real Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid 2-0 on Friday.
Andreas Christensen’s flick set up Alonso’s close-range goal on Saturday. Following that, Barcelona had additional chances to extend their lead but failed to take them.
They paid for it with 17 minutes remaining when Joselu, a former Newcastle and Stoke striker, picked himself up after being clipped in the penalty area by Barcelona’s goal-scorer, Marcos Alonso, and slotted the penalty kick down the middle.
The official, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who also handled Argentina’s tumultuous quarterfinal against the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup, issued 16 yellow cards and two red cards during the game.
Alba received his second booking for complaining about where the defensive wall was after a free kick.
Following a foul on Robert Lewandowski, Souza was given a second yellow card, and Cabrera was initially given a straight red for what appeared to be a kick on the Barcelona striker, but that decision was later overturned after a video review.
In addition to the 15 yellow cards issued to players, Barcelona manager Xavi received a booking for criticizing one of Lahoz’s decisions.
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