Luis Suarez finally nets first La Liga goal as Barcelona thump Cordoba to end 2014

After more than 560 minutes spanning eight games, Luis Suarez scored his first league goal for Barcelona. His first assist had arrived on his debut and four more have followed since. He'd also scored two and created another in the Champions League, but he'd been unable to find the net in la Liga. Until Saturday.

The Uruguayan's strike was Barca's second in their 5-0 win over Cordoba, which took the Catalans to within one point of Real Madrid heading out of 2014, although they have played a game more. A late brace from Lionel Messi completed the scoring, though, meaning Suarez once again was left in the background.

Cordoba's travelling supporters had been looking forward to this one -- after all, it had been over 40 years since they'd played Barca in the league -- but it took just 75 seconds for Pedro to silence them high up in the stands. Gerard Pique got the other goal in the rout.

It was Barca's fourth win at Camp Nou in 14 days and those victories have yielded 21 goals. A 0-0 draw away at Getafe is also sandwiched in that period, though, and it is that which perhaps best symbolises what has been a disappointing and trophy-less year for the club. They'll hope 2015 will be more fruitful.

For the 24th consecutive match since he took charge, Luis Enrique fielded a completely different lineup. Here there was a return for want-away right-back Martin Montoya. With Dani Alves injured and Douglas still adapting, he was the obvious choice, but it still wasn't entirely expected. Montoya has been open about his desire to flee in January; perhaps this was a way of convincing him to stay.

Barca flew out the blocks, though, and there wasn't much time to contemplate selection issues. It took less than two minutes for Ivan Rakitic to feed Pedro, who latched onto the ball inside the six-yard box to score for the sixth time in six matches in December.

With a cushion in the game, the hosts seemed to lack agency. Rakitic fired over from a Jordi Alba pull back and Suarez rippled the side netting after good work from Pedro, but for all their possession, they weren't threatening a rout. At the other end, Claudio Bravo breathed a sigh of relief when Nabil Ghilas beat Javier Mascherano for pace only to blast wide.

Alba, down the left, continued to be the biggest threat, although he'd often look up from the byline to see an empty error. Pedro almost added a second from distance and a Gerard Pique header was then tipped over by Juan Carlos as the half ended at walking pace.

The second half again featured an early goal. The Suarez goal. Andres Iniesta sent Pedro scuttling down the left and his cross was controlled by the former Liverpool striker, who poked the ball through the legs of Juan Carlos. It didn't do much for the pace of the game, though, as Barca continued to plod and Cordoba continued to defend.

A rocket from Rakitic briefly roused the crowd and rattled the frame of the goal before the visitor's resistance at last gave way. First of all, a fine free-kick from Xavi was headed in by the impressive Pique and then Messi made his mark.

The Argentine rifled in from inside the area after Cordoba failed to score a corner and then, with time nearly up, he remarkably controlled the ball and struck his 23rd goal of the season past the fumbling Juan Carlos.