Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Alvaro Arbeloa after scoring Reals fifth goal against Elche. Photograph: Angel Martinez/Real Madrid via Getty Images Agencies Tuesday 23 September 2014 21.52 BST Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 25th hat-trick for Real Madrid with four of the goals in Tuesday’s brutal 5-1 home win over Elche. Ronaldo’s staggering haul of trebles has come in little over five years, after he joined from Manchester United in the summer of 2009, and, with 21 hat-tricks in the Primera Division alone, he stands one behind the club record holder, Alfredo Di Stéfano. The forward’s tally included two penalties, as Real came from behind. He made a bad start by conceding a 15th-minute penalty for a foul on Pedro Mosquera, with Edu Albacar sweeping the ball home past Keylor Navas making his competitive debut in the Real goal. Advertisement Gareth Bale quickly put Real back on track as he headed in a cross by James Rodríguez five minutes later and then the referee pointed to the spot for a foul by Mosquera on Marcelo, even though there was marginal contact. Ronaldo scored the 28th-minute penalty and headed home a Marcelo cross four minutes later to extend Real’s lead. He was then upended by Mario Pasalic with 10 minutes to go and slotted in his second penalty while there was still time for another goal from the Portuguese striker deep in injury time where he finished clinically in the box. Ronaldo has seven goals in four days after the hat-trick he scored on Saturday in the 8-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna. Real have outscored their opponents 18-4 in their last three games in all competitions. While Real have played some brilliant football, they have looked vulnerable in defence and are three points behind the La Liga leaders, Barcelona, who have 12 points and a game in hand which they play against Malaga on Wednesday. The champions, Atlético Madrid, have eight points from four games and play Almeria, also on Wednesday.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 06:50:51 +0000
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