Late De Jong header rescues point for 10-man Barca at Espanyol

BARCELONA : A 96th minute header from substitute Luuk De Jong saw Barcelona rescue a 2-2 draw away at city rivals Espanyol in LaLiga on Sunday.

Both sides had a man sent off in the closing stages, with Espanyol looking set for a first league victory over Barca in 16 years before De Jong turned in Adama Traore's cross to salvage a point.

Xavi Hernandez's side moved back into the fourth and final Champions League spot as a result, level on 39 points with Atletico Madrid.

It had looked like Barca would be in for a comfortable evening when they took the lead inside the first two minutes when Pedri turned in Jordi Alba's cross from close range.

Ferran Torres and Traore both went close for the visitors but they were pegged back on the stroke of halftime as Sergi Darder curled an effort in from the edge of the box after good work from Raul de Tomas.

Darder then returned the favour as he sent De Tomas away with a ball over the top that had looked to have won the game for the hosts.

Tempers flared late on as Gerard Pique and Nico Melamed both saw red following a coming together off the ball before De Jong's late effort saw the spoils shared.

(Reporting by Joseph Walker; Editing by Rohith Nair)