Wu Lei strikes late as lowly Espanyol hold 10-man Barcelona

Agence France-Presse ·
BARCELONA, SPAIN - JANUARY 04: Wu Lei of Espanyol scores his team's second goal during the La Liga match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at RCDE Stadium on January 04, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.
David Ramos / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Madrid, Jan 4, 2020 (AFP) - Barcelona were pegged back by La Liga's bottom-club Espanyol on Saturday as Wu Lei struck late to secure a dramatic 2-2 draw in a thrilling Catalan derby.

Luis Suarez appeared to have inspired another Barca turnaround at the RCD Stadium after he cancelled out Diego Lopez's opener with a deft half-volley before digging out an exquisite pass for substitute Arturo Vidal to finish.

But a red card for Frenkie de Jong with 16 minutes left gave Espanyol renewed hope and Chinese forward Wu Lei emerged the hero, firing past Barca's stand-in goalkeeper Neto in the 88th minute to rescue a point in Abelardo Fernandez's first game in charge.

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