Referee Mateu Lahoz Issues 15 Yellow Cards And Two Reds As Barcelona And Espanyol Draw

Barcelona 1-1 Espanyol

Referee Mateu Lahoz will likely spend his New Year's Eve night completing paperwork after issuing 15 yellow cards and sending off two players during Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Espanyol.

Ansu Fati, Gavi, Brian Olivan, Leandro Cabrera, Fernando Calero, Jordi Alba, Edu Exposito, Vinicius Souza, Ferran Torres and Pedri were all shown yellow cards before the 77th minute at the Camp Nou.

Then came the real drama.

Alba became the first player to see red when he got his second yellow card for dissent in the 78th minute.

Espanyol defender Cabrera was then shown a straight red after Lahoz deemed that he had deliberately kicked Robert Lewandowski in the head.

Teammate Souza was dismissed for a second yellow after complaining to Lahoz about that decision.

A VAR review then saw Cabrera's red card rescinded, so he stayed on the field, making it 10 vs 10 for the closing stages.

Referee Mateu Lahoz pictured during Barcelona's 1-1 draw with Espanyol

IMAGO/ZUMA Wire/Marc Graupera Aloma

Javi Puado became the 11th player to be carded when he cynically tripped Ousmane Dembele.

Raphinha and manager Xavi Hernandez were also given yellow cards on the Barcelona bench towards the end of the game.

Barca had earlier taken the lead in the seventh minute when Marcos Alonso scored his first ever La Liga goal.

But Espanyol leveled from a penalty on 73 minutes. Joselu converted the spot-kick after being fouled by Alonso.

The 1-1 draw saw Barcelona end 2022 top of La Liga on goal difference, marginally ahead of rivals Real Madrid.