Spain: Lionel Messi converted a late penalty to give Barcelona a contentious 1-0 win at Espanyol on Saturday, provisionally lifting the defending champions to the top of the Spanish league standings.
Espanyol's physical style had kept Messi and the visitors in check until defender Javi Lopez handled in the area, and the Argentina forward scored the spot kick for his 23 league goal this season and eighth in his last four games.
Barcelona were fortunate, however, that the referees did not see that the ball hit Lopez after Dani Alves' cross first ricocheted off Neymar's arm, as televised replays appeared to show.
Espanyol played the last seven minutes and injury time with 10 men after goalkeeper Kiko Casilla used his hands outside the box. Lopez had to take over goalkeeping duties with Espanyol's three substitutes already made.
Barcelona moved onto 75 points. Atletico have 73 before visiting Athletic Bilbao later, while Real Madrid have 70 before hosting Rayo Vallecano.
"Derbies are always tough, and this was a tense game with lots of interruptions, fouls, and controversy," said Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets. "Three weeks ago we were in a difficult situation. Now we are in a privileged one."
Barcelona were outmuscled and outplayed by their more modest crosstown rivals in the first-half at Cornella-El Prat stadium and did little more than create a trio of chances squandered by Neymar in the fourth, 19th and 39th.
Led by forward Sergio Garcia, Espanyol weathered Barcelona's initial push and came close to scoring twice through Luis "Pizzi" Afonso, only to see both his shots sail high.
Espanyol even dominated the ball before halftime, but Barcelona's brittle defense with Jose Pinto starting in goal for the injured Victor Valdes managed to defend a pair of corner kicks to keep the game scoreless going into the break.
The second half soon turned sloppy, with fouls piling up and scoring chances growing scarce.
But as Espanyol tired, Barcelona pushed forward and Gerard Pique volleyed a corner kick off the crossbar three minutes before Messi's winner, when he coolly waited for Casilla to lean to his left before slotting the ball on the other side.
Casilla was shown a red card for blocking Messi's shot outside the area. Lopez played admirably as his replacement, making two saves.
Sevilla visit Celta Vigo later on Saturday.
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