Barcelona extend their La Liga lead by beating Espanyol

Neymar scored the opener to continue his rich vein of form as Barcelona won a one-sided La Liga derby against Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday.

Jordi Alba was sent off early in the second half but it was of little consequence as Luis Enrique's men saw out the rest of the game with relative ease.

Barcelona were on the front foot straight from kick-off and had already gone close through Luis Suarez's header and two Neymar efforts before the former Santos forward did give them the lead.

The Brazilian followed up his two goals against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday by slotting home after Luis Suarez dummied an Alba cross inside the area to open the scoring after 17 minutes.

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With Barca picking holes in the Espanyol defence almost at will, Lionel Messi doubled the lead from a tight angle after 25 minutes.

The finish itself was relatively straightforward but the move that led to it was superb. Suarez received the ball wide on the right before fizzing a pass into Andres Iniesta and continuing his run towards goal.

Iniesta's first touch threatened to get away from him but he soon rectified that by hooking a ball over the onlooking Espanyol defenders and perfectly into Suarez's path with his second.

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The former Liverpool striker then volleyed a first-time cushioned pass to the far post where Messi was on hand to finish.

The hosts showed little to encourage the home supporters before half-time and the second period was heading the same way before a decision to award Espanyol a goal kick rather than a Barcelona corner in the 54th minute irked Alba.

The left-back was shown two yellow cards in succession after a lengthy protest with the referee, but Espanyol failed to apply any concerted pressure on the Barca backline in the remainder of the match.

Felipe Caicedo and Christian Stuani fired over when well placed in the Barcelona area but the visitors seemed just as likely to add a third as Espanyol did to half the defecit.

Xavi came on to warm applause for the final three minutes for his 500th La Liga appearance and deep in stoppage time Espanyol's Hector Moreno was also sent off after being given a second yellow card, again both in the space of a minute.

The result means Barca lead La Liga with 81 points, five ahead of Real Madrid who play Celta Vigo on Sunday, with five matches to play.