The home side took the lead through Coro in the 20th minute before second half strikes from Thierry Henry (76) and Lionel Messi (90) handed Barca the win.

Espanyol finished the game with ten players after Brazilian midfielder Nene get sent off for a second bookable offence on 45 minutes.

The game was halted for nearly ten minutes by official Medina Cantalejo, who took the players off the pitch after second half crowd trouble.

The win lifts Barcelona to tenth position in the table with one game over both Valencia and Atletico Madrid.