Barcelona draws to slip further behind Madrid

BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona slipped five points behind Spanish leader Real Madrid after an 86th-minute equalizer by substitute Alvaro Vazquez gave Espanyol a 1-1 draw against the defending champions on Sunday.

With Lionel Messi relatively anonymous in Barcelona's play, midfielder Cesc Fabregas continued his scoring ways by heading home Daniel Alves' cross to put Barcelona ahead after 16 minutes at the Cornella-El Prat stadium.

Barcelona looked certain to take three points as it controlled the city derby, but Thievy Fibouma flicked on Raul Rodriguez's cross for Vazquez to guide home the equalizer four minutes from time.

Barcelona nearly stole the game at the close as first Gerard Pique hit the crossbar in the 90th and then Rodriguez appeared to handle Pedro Rodriguez's shot on the follow-up.

"The team played hard and at the end we got the draw we deserved," Vazquez said. "We arrived alive to the last minutes and we had a that little bit of luck."

Espanyol has been Barcelona's toughest opponent over the past five seasons — taking more league points off its crosstown rival than any other club, and the European champion continued to look vulnerable on the road. Pep Guardiola's side has taken only 13 of 24 points from eight games.

Messi, who seems certain to win his third straight Ballon d'Or as the world's best player on Monday, managed his only shot in the 77th. The Argentina forward was booked for handling in the 13th after stealing from Cristian Alvarez to feed Fabregas for a goal that was disallowed.

"The other day he played only little, so (his play) was not due to (fatigue)," Guardiola said of Messi before turning his attention to Madrid's advantage. "There's a lot of league left to play, a lot of points. We can recover from this."

Guardiola, who is expected to win FIFA's award as best coach on Monday, started the same 11 that beat Madrid last month, with Andres Iniesta returning from a leg muscle injury, but Espanyol held firm early and looked to the counter, with Victor Valdes clearing Joan Verdu's header off the line in the sixth minute, with the Barcelona defense scrambling to keep Verdu's follow-up out too.

Three minutes after the disallowed goal, Fabregas scored his ninth league goal and seventh in six games after connecting with a cross from Alves, who was subjected to racist chants from sections of the home fans during the match.