Barcelona: Barcelona obliterated Espanyol's home dominance with braces by Pedro Rodriguez and David Villa to claim the Catalan capital derby 5-1 and provisionally move five points clear of second-place Real Madrid in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Espanyol had conceded only two goals in its seven victories at El Prat-Cornella Stadium, but Barcelona needed just 30 minutes to double that number and beat the best home side in the league.
Rodriguez raced by the pair of Espanyol center backs to slot a ball from Lionel Messi past a diving Carlos Kameni for Barcelona's 19th-minute opener.
Xavi Hernandez added the second at the half-hour mark, smashing in a rebound of his own pass from the right side of the area with very little angle after a nice buildup from his teammates.
"My team does not stop surprising me," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. "They have the mental tranquility that comes with having done so much in football."
The numbers speak for themselves. Guardiola's team has won 10 straight, gone unbeaten in 22, and scored five or more goals seven times this season in all competitions.
After jeering the Barcelona players as they were announced, the 40,000-seat stadium saluted Andres Iniesta with a standing ovation for his dedication of his World Cup-winning goal to friend and Espanyol defender Daniel Jarque, who died of a heart attack in 2009.
"I felt (the warm response) on the pitch," said Iniesta. "People come before any rivalry."
Five minutes after Xavi gave Barcelona a 2-0 lead, Jose Callejon got behind the Barcelona defense and Victor Valdes had to react quickly to deflect his hard strike in Espanyol's best chance of the half.
"The first two goals marked the game," said Javier Marquez, whose Espanyol fell into fifth place. "We gave it our all, but we had a great team in front of us."
Just out of the break, Espanyol defender Victor Ruiz dived to cut off Pedro's pass to Messi in front of goal, and moments later Kameni stretched to block a shot by Iniesta.
Kameni withstood Rodriguez one-on-one just before the Spain winger got his brace rushing in to beat the Espanyol goalkeeper to a rebound of a Messi strike in the 60th.
Pablo Osvaldo grabbed one back for Espanyol two minutes later to end Barcelona's four-game run of not allowing a goal. Before the Argentine's goal, Barcelona had outscored opponents 31-0.
Villa added the fourth in the 76th and capped the win in the 84th — to bring his season tally to 11 goals — with identical charges from the left with the Espanyol defense completely undone and Kameni without a hope.
Earlier, Giuseppe Rossi piloted Villarreal to a 3-1 win over Mallorca.
Rossi flicked on a cross for Santiago Cazorla for the 11th-minute opener, and after Jonathan de Guzman drew Mallorca even in the 28th, he made it 2-1 from the penalty spot.
Nilmar sealed the win with a beautiful chip shot in the 51st to move Villarreal to within five points of second-place Real Madrid, while Mallorca remained 10th after its third straight loss.
Also, Athletic Bilbao beat Levante 2-1, while Valencia downed Real Sociedad 2-1 and Deportivo La Coruna drew 1-1 with Sporting Gijon.
Athletic Bilbao's second away win lifted it to 25 points and into sixth place.
Igor Gabilondo put Athletic ahead in the 10th with a well-taken free kick before Fernando Llorente had to be substituted for a leg injury.
Felipe Caicedo equalized for Levante in the 21st, but Javier Martinez's header gave Athletic the win in the 73rd.
At Anoeta Stadium, Xabi Prieto put Real Sociedad ahead in the 23rd through a penalty, but Tino Costa leveled for Valencia by curling a free kick into the far corner of the goal in first-half injury time, and Aritz Aduriz got the winner in the 91st. The victory lifted Valencia into fourth place and Sociedad remained in ninth.
Diego Castro scored in the 89th to pull Sporting level after Aythami Oliva gave Deportivo the advantage in the 12th tapping in a rebound.
Sporting remained in second-to-last place with 12 points, and Deportivo stayed 13th.
On Sunday, it's: Real Madrid, Sevilla; Almeria vs. Getafe; Osasuna vs. Zaragoza; and Malaga vs. Atletico Madrid.
Hercules visits Racing Santander on Monday.
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