Despite an incredibly hostile atmosphere that was mainly directed at Joan Garcia, he and his Barcelona teammates coped well with the early pressure.
Ferran Torres missed a golden chance to open the scoring for the visitors in the third minute after miscontrolling the ball with only the keeper to beat, and the closest Espanyol came in the opening exchanges was a towering header from a ninth-minute corner from Leandro Cabrera.
Despite Barcelona having most of the possession, the hosts defended deep and attacked at pace, so the Blaugranes were always susceptible to a quick counterattack.
Lamine Yamal’s only contribution before half-time was a curling shot wide, whilst Garcia’s point-blank one-handed save from Pere Milla’s header just before the break was simply sensational.
In fact, it wasn’t until first-half added time that Barca finally had an effort on target, but Marko Dmitrovic was equal to Lamine’s shot.
And the feisty nature of the fixture only continued at the start of the second half, with the visitors much more purposeful in attack. Substitute Fermin Lopez brought some energy, whilst Dmitrovic had to dive low to keep out Jules Kounde’s header.
Espanyol came on strong as the hour mark approached, with Roberto Fernandez and Tyrhys Dolan going close, and Garcia’s save from Fernandez – as the attacker attempted to beat the keeper – was even better than his previous saves and kept Barca in the game.
Not to be outdone by Espanyol’s summer defector, Dmitrovic then somehow kept out Eric Garcia’s effort from two yards out.
Remarkably, Garcia would go one better again with a full-length save from Carlos Romero’s curled effort.
The intensity never dropped from there, and as Espanyol pushed forward, they were hit by Dani Olmo’s beautiful finish with five minutes to play.
Fellow sub Robert Lewandowski made the game safe thanks to Fermin’s industry, and the result means Espanyol have still failed to beat Barcelona – who have now emerged as winners in 10 of their last 11 games overall – at the RCDE Stadium.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Joan Garcia (Barcelona)