BARCELONA: Luis Suarez’s long wait for a goal in the La Liga finally ended when he added to Lionel Messi’s brace to give Barcelona a 5-0 win over Cordoba on Saturday and finish the year a point behind leaders Real Madrid.

After putting Barcelona ahead two minutes in at the Nou Camp, Pedro Rodriguez passed in the 53rd for Suarez to net his first goal in eight league matches following his four-month biting ban. Suarez had scored twice in the Champions League.

“I am more relaxed now having got the goal. Perhaps we had something to prove going into the match as the draw (last weekend) against Getafe was a blow,” Suarez told reporters.

“We are candidates for La Liga and we want to turn things around at the top. For me personally to get a goal in the league is important but I knew with all the support I was getting that it would come soon.”

Gerard Pique headed in a third in the 80th before Messi rounded off the scoring with two stunning finishes in the final 10 minutes.

Barca have moved to 38 points from 16 games and are on the shoulders of Real, who have a game in hand on their arch-rivals.

In the late La Liga game, Valencia’s Paco Alcacer struck in the first half to earn a 1-0 win at Eibar that moves them up to fourth with 31 points, provisionally a point and a place behind champions Atletico Madrid.

Levante midfielder Andreas Ivan­schitz converted an injury-time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw at home with Real Sociedad, while Sergio Garcia scored two goals and set up another to lead 10-man Espanyol 3-1 at Rayo Vallecano.

Published in Dawn, December 22th, 2014