XAVI HERNANDEZ made a winning start as Barcelona coach Saturday as a dubious Memphis Depay penalty was enough to defeat local rival 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 Barca players dominated for an hour and then almost let slip from their grasp.

Results must come quickly and this one lifts Xavi’s team from ninth in the table to sixth, six points behind Atletico Madrid, which earlier needed a late Felipe header to win 1-0 at home to Osasuna after Sevilla was held to a 2-2 draw by Alaves.

There was also an undeniable uplift in mood at Camp Nou, with the 74,418 attendance almost double the 37,278 that watched Barca draw here against Alaves two weeks ago.

At his unveiling last week, Xavi had emphasized the need for “rules” and even before kick-off there were signs of a shift. The players rolled into Camp Nou under a plume of red smoke, with the squad arriving all together on the team bus. (SD-Agencies)