OLMO DOUBLE WINS DERBY DAY FOR BARCA

Barcelona took six wins from six and extended their lead at the top of La Liga to nine points with a comfortable victory over Catalan rivals Espanyol at their temporary home stadium Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Dani Olmo opened the scoring after just 12 minutes, completing a clever move by Barcelona. Captain Raphinha doubled the lead shortly afterwards with a clever shot over the goalkeeper. Espanyol had the ball in the net but VAR called it back for offside – and seconds later Olmo scored with a third shot to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Hansi Flick will be disappointed by Barca's second-half slump. Espanyol pulled one back with a fine finish from Paudo and, remarkably, scored two more goals before Fati also ruled out an injury in stoppage time for offside.

Barcelona's fourth win in a row and eleventh win in twelfth place gives them a leading position in the league. The 27-time Spanish champions face two away trips before the international break – first to Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League before returning to Real Sociedad in the league.

It is six of seven defeats for Espanyol under Manolo Gonzalez, who face another relegation battle after only returning to the top flight in the Segunda Division playoffs last season. Next up in the league they face fellow strugglers Valencia in a big finish.