Marcos Alonso Was Hero And Villain In Barcelona Vs Espanyol Clash

In a wild New Year’s Eve derby at the Nou Camp, where Marcos Alonso played a significant part, Barcelona were held to a draw by local rivals Espanyol.

After seven minutes, Barca took the lead through Marcos Alonso, but a Joselu penalty cut their lead in half.

Espanyol’s Vinicius Souza was showed the red card in the tense game, while FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alba received a second caution.

Leandro Cabrera of Espanyol received a red card from the referee as well, however, VAR reversed the decision.

Despite losing, Barcelona regained first place in La Liga over Real Madrid, who defeated Real Valladolid 2-0 on Friday.

Alonso’s close-range goal on Saturday came as a result of Andreas Christensen’s flick. Afterward, Barcelona had other opportunities to increase their lead but failed to take them.

With 17 minutes left, they paid for it when Joselu, a former Newcastle and Stoke striker, picked himself up after being clipped in the penalty area by Barca’s goal-scorer, Marcos Alonso, and slotted the penalty kick down the center.

File photo of FC Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso.

In the match, 16 yellow cards and 2 red cards were issued by the official, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who also handled the tumultuous quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup.

Due to his whining about where the defensive wall was after a free kick, Alba received his second booking.

Following a foul on Robert Lewandowski, Souza was shown the door for receiving a second yellow, and Cabrera was initially given a straight red for what appeared to be a kick on the Barca striker, but that decision was later overturned after a video review.

Barcelona manager Xavi received a booking for criticizing one of Lahoz’s decisions in addition to the 15 yellow cards given to players.