MADRID: Barcelona kept their title hopes alive with a 1-0 win in the city derby against Espanyol in La Liga on Wednesday, sealing the rivals’ relegation for the first time in nearly three decades.

Luis Suarez scored the winning goal early in the second half to move Barca provisionally to within a point of leaders Real Madrid and send Espanyol to the second division after 26 straight seasons in the top flight.

“We knew it would be a difficult match because of Espanyol’s situation,” Suarez said. “We are going to keep trying to win our matches and see if Real falter.”

Only a win in the city derby could have kept last-placed Espanyol with a chance of staying in the top tier. The club owned by Chinese businessman Chen Yansheng haven’t played in the second division since the 1993-1994 season.

“We have to apologise to our fans for what we have made them go through,” Espanyol captain Javi Lopez said. “This is a difficult moment. Nothing went right for us this season. We are committed to coming back stronger.”

It was the sixth straight loss for Espanyol, and their 11th consecutive league defeat away to Barcelona at the Camp Nou Stadium. They have 24 points from 35 matches 11 points from safety.

Both teams went a man down to a straight red card early in the second half. Barcelona forward Ansu Fati was sent off after a hard foul on Fernando Calero in the 51st, and Espanyol midfielder Pol Lozano was ejected after a tough foul on Gerard Pique in the 54th.

It didn’t take long for Barcelona to take advantage of the extra space, and Suarez broke the deadlock from close range in the 56th after an exchange between Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi inside the area.

Messi almost added a second with a thumping volley at the back post while Espanyol wanted a penalty in injury-time when a shot hit the shoulder of Arturo Vidal. The appeals were rightly waved away.

Villarreal had earlier beaten Getafe 3-1 to reduce the gap behind Sevilla in fourth provisionally to three points.

Santi Cazorla scored two penalties for Villarreal to all-but end Getafe’s own hopes of Champions League qualification.

Real Betis secured their stay in the first division with a comfortable 3-0 win over mid-table Osasuna, ending a three-match winless streak.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2020