Olmo and Lewandowski settle the derby

Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski were the heroes of Barcelona by winning 2-0 in the Catalan derby at Espanyol.

Espanyol had won their last five La Liga matches before the winter break, which Barça entered with a four-point lead over Real Madrid. top of the table.

The home side’s form and Joan Garcia’s return to the club he left for Barcelona in the summer has created a fierce atmosphere at the Cornella El-Prat.

It was Garcia’s excellent performance that prevented Espanyol from taking the lead after they had dominated the match for long periods.

And Espanyol were punished for failing to get the better of Garcia, with Olmo curling a sublime 86th-minute strike into the top right corner.

Lewandowski then kept the points safe by curling home a deflected effort in the 90th minute after excellent work on the break from Fermin Lopez.

Garcia returns to haunt Espanyol

Garcia made the first of several key saves in the 22nd minute when he thwarted Roberto Fernández after the Espanyol forward was sent through on goal by Edu Exposito.

Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres went close in Barca’s response, but they were again grateful to Garcia who produced a superb fingertip save to tip a Fernandez header onto the crossbar.

Marko Dmitrovic showed his reactions to deny Jules Kounde at the far post 10 minutes into the second half, but it was Garcia who continued to be by far the busier goalkeeper and he showed heroics to prevent Fernandez from rounding him and giving Espanyol the lead.

Barcelona’s late show wins

There was further frustration for Fernandez when he finally beat Garcia, only to see Kounde come off the line, before Dmitrovic came to the rescue to prevent Eric Garcia from giving Barca the lead.

Garcia was at full capacity again as he turned Carlos Romero behind, and his incredible efforts were rewarded when Olmo marked his return from injury in style.

The superb strike took the wind out of Espanyol’s sails, and the match ended four minutes later when Lewandowski added pain to the hosts, sending Barca seven points clear of Real Madrid ahead of their meeting with Real Betis on Sunday.