Pedro scored early on to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead over Cordoba at half time of their La Liga match at the Camp Nou this afternoon.

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The home side needed less than two minutes to open the scoring, as Ivan Rakitic fired a long ball forward for Pedro to thrash into the top corner.

Barcelona had a chance for a second shortly after, but Luiz Suarez fired just wide after Jordi Alba had picked the Uruguayan out with a through ball.

Cordoba's first real chance of the first half fell to Nabil Ghilas, who rounded a couple of defenders before attempting to drive the ball in after 20 minutes, but his low finish went wide.

The hosts wanted a penalty when Jose Angel Crespo brought down Martin Montoya in the box, but the referee was not interested in their appeals.

Pedro could have added his second shortly before the break when he tried a low effort from outside the box, but his strike drifted just wide.