Real Madrid survived an early scare to record their third consecutive high-scoring victory with a drubbing of Elche which saw Cristiano Ronaldo claim his second hat-trick in the space of four days.
After the visitors had the temerity to take an early lead through Edu Albacar’s penalty, Gareth Bale levelled and then Ronaldo took over, registering the 24th treble of his Madrid career to secure an ultimately easy victory and finishing off proceedings by adding his fourth in stoppage time.
Keylor Navas was making his Madrid debut following his summer switch from Levante and the Costa Rican was called into action early on to keep out a free kick from Albacar.
But there was nothing Navas could do a few minutes later, when Albacar thrashed home from the penalty spot after Ronaldo was penalised, perhaps a little harshly, for catching Pedro Mosquera as he attempted to make a clearance.
Amazingly, within two minutes the hosts could have conceded another penalty when Garry Rodrigues sped away from Marcelo and was tripped by the Brazilian as he surged into the penalty area. But referee Carlos Clos Gomez contentiously ruled the offence took place just outside the area, and Albacar whipped the subsequent free-kick narrowly wide of Navas’ right-hand post.
The chances of an upset for the visitors didn’t last for long as Madrid levelled after 20 minutes. The ever-improving James found space down the right and delivered an inswinging cross to Bale, whose relatively tame downward header should have been saved by Elche keeper Manu Herrera but was allowed to bounce into the back of the net.
The hosts took over completely from that moment on and went ahead when Marcelo earned a particular dubious penalty, going over with minimal impact inside the penalty area, Clos Gomez again sided with the full-back and pointed to the spot, allowing Ronaldo to convert his sixth league goal of the season.
And the seventh followed soon after when the influential Isco released Marcelo and his arrowed cross was met by a brilliant header from Ronaldo, giving Herrera no chance as it flew into the left corner.
More goals could have followed before the break, with Herrera partially atoning himself for Madrid’s error with his equaliser as he showed great reflexes to keep out a strike from Toni Kroos after a nice lay-off from James.
Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos also forced saves from the visiting keeper, and Elche were relieved to hear the half-time whistle.
With both teams appearing to be fully aware the result was already decided, the majority of the second half was a slow-paced affair.
Coro had a chance to pull one back on a rare attack for Elche and Ronaldo toe-poked an effort over the crossbar, but there was little to excite the Bernabeu in contrast to the free-flowing opening period.
The chief matter of interest was whether Ronaldo would be able to complete his hat-trick, and he came very close with a firm low shot from a narrow angle which Herrera managed to push aside with his foot.
The Portuguese star did complete his treble with 10 minutes remaining with his second penalty of the night, which he won himself after running onto a pass from Bale, going down under Mario Pasalic’s clumsy challenge.
Kroos missed out on the opportunity to open his account by bouncing a show onto the crossbar, Javier Hernandez horribly skied a shot from 15 yards and Bale had a close-range header saved at the near post, before Ronaldo ran onto a pass from Bale to complete the scoring with an easy low finish.
