BARCELONA defender Gerard Pique stoked the fires of an on-running feud with crosstown rivals Espanyol as the centre-back snatched a point to save his side’s record breaking unbeaten run.

Pique headed home a Lionel Messi free kick in the 83rd minute to equalise for the Blaugrana, and raised his fingers to his lips in celebration – a comment about a controversial spat between the defender and his side’s opponents.

This week, Espanyol reported Pique to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFFF) for referring to the club as “Espanyol from Cornella” following the two sides’ meeting in the Copa del Rey.

His comments referred to the region where Espanyol have played their home games since 2009 – a statement which the club have deemed an attempt to discredit them.

The 31-year-old maintains he was purely stating a geographical fact, and has fired back, bemoaning Espanyol’s inability to react to insults aimed at him and his family during recent clashes between the sides.

“Celebrating the goal was special after everything that’s happened in the last week,” Pique said post-game.

“Some of the fans here have been directing insults at me and my family for a long time. I was telling them, in general, to be quiet, but maybe I shouldn’t have. I know a lot of good Espanyol fans. Maybe it should have been directed at the club or its owners for not reporting certain things.”

“They are from Cornella, like I said the other day. I know it hurt them and I used sarcasm to annoy them. But saying they play in Cornella is not disrespectful, it’s a fact.”

“They complain about that and report me, but they don’t investigate insults towards my family. That is disrespectful. Telling them to be quiet was the least I could do.”

Pique’s goal and the resulting draw extended Barca’s unbeaten streak in La Liga to 22 games, their best ever – surpassing the mark set by Pep Guardiola’s 2009/10 team. Real Sociedad boast the league record, going 32 games unbeaten in 1979/80.

The defender’s header equalised after Gerard Moreno had put Espanyol in the lead, and the striker responded to his fellow scorer’s controversial comments.

“They are his quotes,” said Moreno. “We are proud of playing in Cornella and El Prat. I think that we all know where the club was founded and if anyone has any doubts then all they have to do is look at the badge, which shows it clearly.”

“The club badge says ‘RCD Espanyol from Barcelona’.”

“The Pique topic does not interest me, I’m interested in the team and the fans being united. I think it will be a calm day with a great atmosphere, where football can be enjoyed.”