[Thatslife]

Barcelona defeated city rivals Espanyol in a stormy match where both teams finished the match with just eight men.

Jordi Cruyff gave Espanyol the lead after only a few minutes of play but Barca hit back through Ronaldinho and a brace from Patrick Kluivert to wrap up the scoring after 35 minutes.

However, Espanyol's Ivan De la Pena was given a straight red for a late tackle on Michael Reiziger while his team-mates Toni Soldevilla and Alberto Lopo joined him for an early bath.

Also expelled were Barca trio Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Quaresma and Phillip Cocu.

In the meantime police had to be called as fans set fire to flags and ripped up seats and hurled them towards the pitch.

Rustu Recber was given his first start of the season in the Primera Liga instead of youth product Victor Valdes and he was the first keeper to be tested after a few minutes when Raul Tamudo shot across the goal and the Turkish keeper smothered the ball.

Minutes later Cocu, restored to midfield, played in his international team-mates Marc Overmars who chipped the keeper but Soldevilla cleared off the line.

Espanyol were the first to score and it was a sweet moment for Cruyff playing against his old club.

De la Pena swung in a free kick and Jordi beat Cocu with a diving header to find the back of the net.

But Espanyol were not celebrating for long as two minutes later fit-again Ronaldinho levelled the scores.

Having missed the last six weeks with a hamstring strain he showed no rustiness, latching onto a flick from Kluivert although his shot took a slight deflection off Soldevilla.

Barca began to find their rhythm and scored twice more in the first half with both goals having an element of fortune.

On 20 minutes Kluivert stole in at the near post and flicked a cross from Gabri Garcia against a defender but picked up the rebound and slotted home from an acute angle.

Then 10 minutes from the end of the half Toni Jimenez attempted to catch a cross but dropped it at the feet of Kluivert who buried the ball into the top of the net.

The goal sparked rioting from fans. In several sections they started setting fire to flags and in another fans began ripping up seats and throwing them at the pitch.

On the pitch too the tension was building as De la Pena was red-carded for a late challenge on Reiziger.

The action on the pitch was becoming almost incidental but just before the break Espanyol went within a whisker of pulling a goal back when Lopo headed against a post.

While Barca with a two-goal advantage could have shut up shop they instead saw two players sent off within five minutes of the restart.

First Marquez and then Quaresma both slightly harshly were given their marching orders for second yellow cards.

But Espanyol were soon to be 2-2 in red cards when Soldevilla was given a second caution for kicking out at Gerard Lopez.

In the meantime Overmars missed a great chance to give Barca a fourth goal but racing into the penalty area he attempted to round the keeper and Toni was able to save.

The numbers continued to dwindle on the pitch however as Cocu was dismissed for a second yellow and then the final expulsion was for Lopo - again for two booking - with two minutes to go.

In the closing minutes substitute Luis Enrique missed a clear chance to further increase Barcelona's goal tally while at the other end Oscar Garcia shot just over.

Coaches Frank Rijkaard and Luis Fernandez had appealed for calm during the week but clearly on this evidence there is little Christmas spirit in Catalonia this year.