Madrid, Jan 4 (IANS) La Liga leader FC Barcelona rode its luck before two late goals from Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski assured a 2-0 win away to local rivals Espanyol.
Barcelona's other hero was goalkeeper Joan Garcia, who joined from Espanyol over the summer and was greeted with boos and whistles every time he touched the ball.
Garcia made a series of impressive saves to keep Espanyol at bay as the home side looked for a sixth consecutive league win with some aggressive football, creating six good chances, all of which were frustrated by its former goalkeeper, reports Xinhua.
Olmo put Barcelona ahead in the 86th minute with a curling shot into the top of the net, and Lewandowski made the points safe with a smart finish after work from Fermin Lopez in the last minute.
Villarreal moved back into third with a 3-1 away win over Elche.
The visitors quickly took a 2-0 lead with goals from Alberto Moleiro and Georges Mikautadze and although Martim Neto pulled a goal back after half an hour, Elche was unable to find a way back and Alfonso Pedraza sealed three points for Villarreal with seven minutes left to play.
Borja Iglesias scored twice as Celta Vigo sailed past struggling Valencia 4-1 at home in Saturday's opening match.
Pepelu's smart shot got Valencia into the game with 20 minutes left, but Jones El-Abdellaoui scored a third for Celta in the 83rd minute and Hugo Sotelo netted a fourth in injury time. Valencia goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala suffered a muscle injury and was replaced by Pepelu for the closing moments.
Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao played out a 1-1 draw, with Ruben Garcia's long-range free kick giving Osasuna a deserved first-half lead, before Gorka Guruzeta leveled with 20 minutes remaining as Athletic improved after the break.
On Friday night, Mauro Arambarri headed in a late equalizer as Getafe snatched a 1-1 draw away to Rayo Vallecano, who had led with Jorge de Frutos' volley in first half injury time.
--IANS
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