Dani Olmo shined in his return as a starter for Barcelona, scoring two goals to help the Catalan team secure a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the city derby on Sunday in the Spanish league.
Raphinha also found the net for Barcelona, which had just beaten Real Madrid 4-0 in the clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium the previous week.
Barcelona now holds a nine-point lead over Madrid, whose match against Valencia on Saturday was postponed due to deadly floods that claimed more than 200 lives in southern Spain last week.
The match between Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano was also postponed, along with three second-division matches scheduled in the area this weekend.
This win extended Barcelona’s unbeaten streak to 27 matches against Espanyol in the league. Espanyol, currently in 17th place, has lost six out of their last seven league games.
Olmo scored his two goals in his return as a starter after injuring his right hamstring on September 15 against Girona. He had previously come off the bench in the team’s victories against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Madrid in the Spanish league.
“I was excited about coming back,” Olmo said. “I’m feeling well. It was important to keep winning.”
He put Barcelona in the lead in the 12th minute with a close-range goal after a nice cross from Lamine Yamal using the outside of his left foot. Olmo scored his second goal with a shot from outside the box in the 31st minute.
In his first season with Barcelona, Olmo has now scored five goals in five matches. Raphinha increased the lead in the 23rd minute by redirecting a long cross from Marc Casadó into the net with one touch.
Barcelona has outscored its league opponents 40-11 in 12 matches, while Madrid has the second-best offense with 21 goals.
“We are a team that can score a lot, not only with our strikers but also with the players in the second line,” Olmo said. “We play very direct and create many opportunities.”
Espanyol thought they had closed the gap in the 27th minute, but Jofre Carrera’s goal was ruled offside after a video review. They also had a goal by Álvaro Tejero disallowed for offside in the 58th minute, and then Javi Puado finally scored a valid goal in the 63rd minute.
Barcelona had a goal disallowed in stoppage time as well.
Before the match, Barcelona recognized those who received awards at the Ballon d’Or ceremony last week, including Yamal, who won the Kopa Trophy for the best Under-21 player, and Aitana Bonmatí, who was named the world’s best woman soccer player.
Barcelona also won the award for the best women’s team. There was also a moment of silence to honor the victims of the floods, which has been observed at all league matches this weekend.
