Pedro bagged a brace as Barcelona thrashed their city rivals Espanyol 4-0 in their La Liga clash at Camp Nou on Sunday night.

Xavi opened the scoring for the hosts before Pedro's double put the result beyond doubt. Lionel Messi added a fourth from the spot to cap off the win.

The Blaugrana only took 10 minutes to put themselves in front. Andres Iniesta set up the first goal as he provided a drilled cross from the left that Xavi slotted.

Cesc Fabregas created the second as he made his way past Javi Lopez before cutting it back for Messi. The Argentine layed it up for Pedro with a deft flick and the forward made enough contact to find the goal.

The visitors had a great chance to level matters but Sergio Garcia smashed his shot over the bar and the soon found themselves three goals down.

Sergio Busquets played a superb through-ball that Pedro pounced on and put away in the 27th minute to secure the three points.

It went from bad to worse for the travelers when Barca were awarded a penalty after Kiko Casilla was deemed to have brought Cesc down in the area. Messi stepped up to take the penalty and slotted it with the greatest of ease.

Barcelona continued to dominate the second half and didn't allow Espanyol much of the possession.

The visitors came close to netting a consolation goal through Juan Angel Albin, but the tie finished at 4-0 to the hosts.