Ronaldo hat-trick inspires Real to big win
MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick as Real Madrid warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain with a big 5-2 victory over Real Sociedad in La Liga. Zinedine Zidane’s side have not scaled their usual heights this season and this was still not perfect, but they do look to be finding some form just in time for a potentially season-defining tie with the French side.
They blew Real Sociedad apart in the first half at the Santiago Bernabeu, taking the lead inside a minute through Lucas Vazquez and finding themselves four goals to the good by the interval. Toni Kroos got Real’s other goal, as they made it three wins and a draw from their last four La Liga games, with 18 goals scored in that time.
The defensive lapses that allowed the visitors to pull two goals back late on will be a concern for Zidane, though. Madrid are still a huge 17 points behind unbeaten league leaders Barcelona, but they are now back up to third above Valencia.
Asensio and Marcelo combined superbly to set up Ronaldo to make it 2-0 before the half-hour mark, and Kroos made it three with a trademark curling strike on his right foot from the edge of the area.
Ronaldo then headed home a Luka Modric corner, and it could have been more than 4-0 at halftime, too, with Karim Benzema and Ronaldo both hitting the post from close range. They could not keep up the same intensity after the restart, however. Instead, Juanmi headed against the post for the Basque side, who pulled one back on 74 minutes as substitute Jon Bautista was given space to slot past Keylor Navas.
Ronaldo then completed his hat-trick, pouncing to finish after Geronimo Rulli had spilled a shot from Bale, on as a substitute. It was Ronaldo’s 11th league goal of the season, with seven coming in the last four games. Asier Illarramendi, the former Madrid midfielder, then made it 5-2 from close range.
BARCELONA HELD
Barcelona were held to a second consecutive draw as Getafe left Camp Nou with a hard-earned 0-0 draw. For the first time since the April 2012 Clasico against Real Madrid, Barca failed to register a shot on target during the first half of a home game in LaLiga, although Luis Suarez did have a brilliant volley ruled out for offside. Ernesto Valverde’s side belatedly shifted through the gears after half-time but it was not enough to breach some stubborn resistance from Pepe Bordalas’ visitors.