Espanyol 1 - 1 Barcelona

Espanyol 1-1 Barcelona

Updated: December 1, 2007, 6:15 PM ET

BARCELONA, December 1 (Primera Liga) - Espanyol and Barcelona shared the points in a fiercely-contested Catalan derby on Saturday night.

Andres Iniesta struck on six minutes to give Barcelona the lead, but substitute Ferran Corominas equalised half-way through the second period to extend Espanyol's unbeaten run to 10 matches and frustrate their city rivals, who have won just once on the road all season in the league.

The visitors got off to the perfect start when Iniesta fired home after just six minutes, but the goal was all about Lionel Messi.

The Argentinian winger skipped past several challenges on his way to the byline and sent in an inviting low cross which Iniesta fired past Carlos Kameni to give Barcelona the lead.

But the Catalan giants, missing injured forwards Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o and Deco, struggled to build on their early advantage.

Espanyol, unbeaten in their previous nine Primera Liga games, also looked a pale shadow of the side who had beaten the likes of Real Madrid and Valencia this season.

Albert Riera blasted a right-footed effort over the bar on 14 minutes after good work from Raul Tamudo in the home side's first meaningful attack.

But Barcelona came within inches of doubling their advantage four minutes later when Messi saw his angled shot sail just wide of Kameni's far post.

Young Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic then set up Xavi on 25 minutes, but the Spain midfielder lifted his effort well over the bar.

Xavi came closer seven minutes later, but saw his shot rebound off the post this time and Bojan also hit the woodwork with a header on the rebound.

Messi then went past two defenders and sent in a fierce shot just before the break, only to see Kameni push his effort behind with an instinctive save.

After the break, Espanyol improved dramatically and centre-back Daniel Jarque got forward well on 50 minutes, but fired his effort just off target.

Buoyed by their enthusiastic support, the home side continued to press, but created little in the next fifteen minutes.

Barcelona had also ceased to exist as an attacking force at this stage and Rijkaard brought on Ronaldinho in place of Bojan in the hope of livening up his side's lethargic forward line.

But it was another substitute, Espanyol's Corominas, who changed the course of the game on 68 minutes.

The home-grown forward latched on to Riera's low cross to fire past Victor Valdes from close-range and send the home fans wild following a quick Espanyol counter-attack.

Ronaldinho twice came close to restoring Barcelona's lead in the next few minutes. The Brazilian saw his free-kick tipped over the bar by Kameni and was denied again when the Cameroon goalkeeper dived low to his left to keep out his header.

Kameni also got down well to keep out Iniesta's low shot as Barcelona continued to search for a winner.

Messi also came close following another trademark run in the closing stages, but shot straight at Kameni.

Espanyol could have stolen the points in the dying seconds through Jonatas, but Valdes produced a smart save to deny the Brazilian a last-gasp winner.

The point sees Barcelona move provisionally into second place, but they will be overtaken on Sunday if Villarreal avoid defeat at Valladolid. Espanyol stay fourth.