Espanyol slumped to their first home defeat of the season, losing 1-5 to visiting Barcelona who now move five points clear at the top of La Liga pending Sunday’s matches.
Pedro and Xavi gave Barcelona a two goal lead at half time and Pedro added another in the second half.
Osvaldo pulled one back for Espanyol but a pair from David Villa put the match beyond dispute.
Villarreal will remain in third spot after a 3-1 victory over Mallorca. Cazorla gave Villarreal an early lead but this was cancelled out by a well taken goal from De Guzmán.
Rossi restored Villarreal’s lead from the penalty spot in the 35th minute and then in the second half, Nilmar slotted home to make the final result 3-1.