Cristiano Ronaldo was deservedly the best player on the pitch as Real Madrid returned to winning ways courtesy of a convincing 5-2 defeat of Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu.
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Real put aside their disappointing draw against Levante last week, with Ronaldo scoring a hattrick.
With just two wins in their last six La Liga games, and a rapidly fading title defence, Los Blancos produced a complete dominant performance to see off their visitors.
Lucas Vasquez gave them a 1-0 lead in the first minute, before goals from Ronaldo, Toni Kroos and another Ronaldo goal saw the champions comfortably 4-0 ahead at the break.
The away side fought back in the second half, pulling one back through Jon Bautista, with 15minutes to go.
However, Ronaldo restored Real’s four goals advantage when he completed his hattrick to put the defending champions 5-1 up, before former Real Madrid player, Asier Illarramendi, pulled another goal back for Sociedad.
A well deserved victory for Zinedine Zidane’s side, who have brightened their chances of Champions League football next season by leapfrogging Valencia into third place on the table.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid continued to put pressure on leaders, Barcelona, with another win, their third win in a row.
Atletic defeated Malaga 1-0 thanks to Antoine Griezmann’s first minute strike, which sees Diego Simeone’s side now six points behind Barca, who have a game in hand, and ten ahead of city rivals, Real.
Full Results
Villarreal 1-2 Alaves
Malaga 0-1 A. Madrid
Leganes 0-1 Eibar
R. Madrid 5-2 Sociedad
