Espanyol stun 10-man Barca while rampant Real edge closer
An anxious Barca slipped to only their second defeat of the campaign and saw their lead, which stood at 12 points just over a week ago, reduced to seven.
The Catalan derby swung the way of the visitors when Barca’s Seydou Keita was sent off before the break and the home side’s former player Ivan de la Pena took full advantage by scoring twice just after the restart.
Yaya Toure pulled one back just past the hour but it was not enough to prevent champions Real edging even closer with their ninth successive victory.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Raul helped themselves to two goals each while Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Ramos weighed in with one apiece as Real went in 6-1 up at halftime at the Bernabeu.
Barca have 60 points, Real have 53 and third-placed Sevilla, who have 41, host Atletico Madrid in Saturday’s late game.
Villarreal climbed to fourth on 41 points with a 2-1 home win over Sporting Gijon.