Xavi Hernandez made a winning start as Barcelona coach on Saturday as a dubious Memphis Depay penalty was enough to defeat local rivals Espanyol 1-0 in La Liga. 

Depay’s strike at the start of the second half ensured Xavi’s homecoming at Camp Nou ended in victory, but a nervy one, that will have left him under no illusions about the difficulty of the task ahead. Raul de Tomas twice struck the post late on as Espanyol spurned a flurry of late chances that really should have seen them take a draw from a game.