Real Madrid equalled a Spanish football record with a victory over Celta Vigo courtesy of yet another hat-trick from the unstoppable Cristiano Ronaldo.
Carlo Ancelotti’s table-toppers have now won 18 consecutive games to level a total previously achieved by Barcelona under Frank Rijkaard in 2005/06, and Los Blancos will fully expect to overhaul that mark when they host Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Ronaldo’s fourth hat-trick of the season started with a hotly-disputed penalty, followed by two clinical second half strikes to take his league tally to 23 goals in 14 games.
t was also his 23rd treble in La Liga history, taking him past Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra on the all-time list.
The controversial breakthrough came as Marcelo lifted a ball into the penalty area, Ronaldo gave chase and went down under minimal contact from Castro, earning a penalty from referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco which was bitterly contested by the visiting players before Ronaldo slotted his spot-kick into the bottom right corner.
Ronaldo’s second goal made the game safe 20 minutes into the second half, arriving when Kroos drove forward and Gustavo Cabral’s loose defensive header dropped straight to the Portuguese, who promptly drilled home a fierce right-footed volley.
And Ronaldo completed his hat-trick with nine minutes remaining, stabbing home at the far post to convert Marcelo’s low cross after an incisive burst into the box by Bale.
Reigning champions Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Barcelona into second in La Liga with a hard-fought 2-0 victory away to Elche.
Jose Maria Gimenez opened the scoring in spectacular fashion just past the quarter-hour mark with his first goal for the club, and a Mario Mandzukic strike just after the break was enough to seal the win for Diego Simeone’s men.
After Guilherme Siqueira had seen a cross headed behind, the Brazilian combined with Koke and Arda Turan from the resulting corner, feeding Uruguayan defender Gimenez, who instantly controlled the ball before firing into the roof of the net from the edge of the box to open his account for the club.
Elsewhere, Cordoba finally ended their long wait for a first win since returning to the top flight by overcoming Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at San Mames thanks to a first-half strike by Nabil Ghilas.
The Algerian forward capitalised on a weak pass from Ander Iturraspe to break the deadlock midway through the first half and the Andalusians passed up several opportunities to add to their lead, but then had to survive a late onslaught from Athletic to record their first win in Spain’s top flight for 42 years.
