Luis Suarez Ends Goal Drought as Barcelona Beat Espanyol 3-0 in La Liga Derby

Luis Suarez snapped his goalless streak in Barcelona's derby win over Espanyol during Saturday's La Liga action at Estadi Cornella-El Prat, scoring twice in the 3-0 triumph.        

The hosts made life difficult on Barcelona during the first half, but Suarez broke the deadlock shortly after the break. The former Liverpool man hadn't scored in five straight matches across all competitions.

Ivan Rakitic added a second goal to secure the win and keep the pressure on Real Madrid in the title race. Suarez doubled his tally shortly before the final whistle.

As Barcelona's official Twitter account shared, Neymar returned from suspension:

Yahoo Sports' Henry Bushnell was confused when he saw Espanyol's teamsheet:

Fans thinking the hosts would drop deep and defend with numbers were sorely mistaken, as Espanyol came out pressing high up the pitch and putting tremendous amounts of pressure on the Blaugrana.

Felipe Caicedo in particular did tons of damage, and he handed Jose Manuel Jurado a fantastic opportunity on a platter just minutes into the contest. Somehow, the midfielder missed the sitter.

Robbie Dunne of AS English loved Espanyol's daring approach:

Rakitic fired Barcelona's first chance wide via a deflection, as Lionel Messi started to drop deeper and create openings. The visitors took control of the ball but found it hard to break through Espanyol's defence.

It didn't help that the hosts weren't punished for their physical approach, with Sergi Roberto suffering an early knock and Neymar and Rakitic both taking heavy hits.

Javi Lopez also went down after Neymar appeared to hit him in the face with an elbow. But the incident was clearly accidental and the Brazilian immediately apologised.

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As the first half came to a close, the visitors had an absurd advantage in the possession statistics, but Diego Lopez didn't make a single save.

The second half didn't start at a better pace for Barcelona, but after just five minutes, Suarez finally ended his goal drought. Jurado gave the chance away with a dreadful pass, and the Uruguay international took the gift and turned it home.

ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan singled out Jurado for the blunder:

An incident between Gerard Pique and Aaron Caricol took the pace out of the match, but when play resumed, the Blaugrana were clearly buoyed by the lead, with Neymar putting Lopez to work with a curling shot.

The former Real Madrid stopper had to be on point to deny Messi's free-kick before Marc-Andre ter Stegen flashed his talent with a save on Jurado.

The Blaugrana needed a second goal to be safe, and Rakitic delivered with less than 15 minutes to play, thanks to a wonderful piece of play from Messi, via Sport English:

The Argentinian ran right through the defence before playing in his team-mate, who calmly finished.

With the win all but secured, the Blaugrana took a few more risks, with Roberto trying his luck after a daring run. Suarez even managed a second goal, thanks to a failed clearance and a bit of luck.

Barcelona's next outing will be against Villarreal next Saturday, while Espanyol face Deportivo La Coruna on May 7.