Lionel Messi scored two late goals and Luis Suarez got his first in La Liga as Barcelona crushed struggling Cordoba 5-0 on Saturday to finish the year just one point behind leaders Real Madrid.
In-form Pedro put Barca ahead after 71 seconds with the second-fastest goal in La Liga this season, with a clinical finish from a ball over the top of the defense by Ivan Rakitic.
The signs were ominous for Cordoba as they found themselves encamped in their own half, although Barca did not add to their lead until early in the second half through Suarez.
With the Cordoba players’ heads going down, Gerard Pique nodded in a third before Messi’s double took his season La Liga tally to 15 behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 25 for Real Madrid.
Xavi came on as a second-half substitute in his 741st match for Barca, equaling the record of Real’s Raul for the number of games played for a single club in Spanish soccer.
The Catalan club have gained 38 points from 16 games and are on the shoulders of Los Blancos, who have a game in hand on their archrivals.
In the late La Liga game, Valencia’s Paco Alcacer struck in the first half to earn a 1-0 win at Sociedad Deportiva Eibar that moves them up to fourth with 31 points, a point and a place behind champions Atletico Madrid, who were to visit Athletic Bilbao yesterday.
Uruguayan Suarez, who returned at the end of October from a four-month ban for biting at the FIFA World Cup in June and July, claimed his first league goal for Barca when he slotted home from a Pedro pass.
“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.”
Suarez had come close to adding to Pedro’s opener when his strike from a Jordi Alba pull-back went just the wrong side of the post.
Barca have looked susceptible at the back this season and there were warning signs when Nabil Ghilas ran unopposed down the right wing, but he fired into the side netting from a tight angle.
However, Luis Enrique’s Barca were clearly in control with Rakitic and Pedro having further chances before Suarez struck after 52 minutes.
From there the game opened up as Cordoba began to lose concentration.
Pique headed in a cross from Xavi before Messi came to life after a quiet game by his standards with two well-struck drives from inside the area to complete the rout.
In other Liga action, Levante UD’s Andreas Ivanschitz converted an added-time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad.
David Moyes’ Sociedad side were on course for their first away win of the season with a Sergio Canales goal just after the break before Carlos Martinez handled in the area.
Ivanschitz kept his cool and sent goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli the wrong way to earn a point. The two teams are level on 15 points from 16 games in the lower half of the table.
“It is true that we lacked more control of the play, especially at 1-0, and I am disappointed with that,” Moyes told a news conference. “I don’t think that Levante did enough to deserve a draw so that is also frustrating.”
Elsewhere on Saturday, Sergio Garcia scored two goals and set up another to lead 10-man RCD Espanyol 3-1 over Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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