FC Barcelona 1-1 Espanyol: Referee Mateu Lahoz show 17 cards in Catalonian Derby; Jordi Alba, Souza sent off
Derbies are known to be heated, especially when it’s a Spanish derby that includes the likes of Barcelona and Espanol. Yes, we are talking about the Catalonian derby that saw some heated moments in the game. And resulted in 15 cards being flashed to the players.
This was the first game after the FIFA World Cup 2022 where Catalonian giants FC Barcelona took on Espanyol in what was supposed to be an allegedly tamed encounter. The man in the middle was Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, known for handing out cards like anything.
Earlier in the World Cup he was criticised for showing too many cards in the Quarter-Final match between Argentina and Netherlands. He was later put under probe and banned from officiating in the tournament.
However, he doesn’t seemed to have learned a lesson from his outing in the World Cup. In the first encounter as the in charge of La Liga, he was back at it again.
Heated Catalonian Derby
Barcelona was soaring high on the points table, while Espanyol was sinking low. But as it is seen often in the derbies the underdogs come alive. And Espanyol followed the script to the fullest.
They made a comeback in the game late, which frustrated Barcelona, hence resulting in a match that saw a total of 15 cards being flashed out at players.
Things started getting tense after Espanyol were awarded a penalty in 73rd minute. Joselu converted it with great finesse to draw level in the game.
This goal got Espanyol’s hopes high of defeating their opponents. They kept coming at Barcelona’s face and this resulted in some reactions from Barcelona.
Referee Mateu Lahoz doesn’t hold back
The passage of play from 73 minutes onwards saw 10 yellow cards and 2 red cards being flashed at the players. Barcelona was at the receiving end of 6 yellow and a red card, while the rest of them were shown to Espanyol.
Jordi Alba and Vinicius Souza were the two players to be sent off from Barcelona and Espanyol respectively. Towards the end of the game, even Xavi Hernandez the Barcelona coach was shown a card.
The game stretched to 100 minutes but both the sides couldn’t be separated. And the game ended at 1-1, with Barcelona dropping 2 points from a crucial game.
