Ronaldo treble rouses Madrid to victory
Sunday, January 9, 2011
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Cristiano Ronaldo was the star for Real Madrid CF as his hat-trick set up a 4-2 win against Villarreal CF that kept Los Merengues within two points of Liga leaders FC Barcelona.
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Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid CF within two points of Liga leaders FC Barcelona as his hat-trick powered Los Merengues to a 4-2 victory against Villarreal CF, on a day when RCD Espanyol boosted their European ambitions by downing Real Zaragoza 4-0.
José Mourinho's men twice had to come from behind against third-placed Villarreal and on both occasions it was Ronaldo who restored parity, the Portuguese forward cancelling out Cani's cool seventh-minute opener just two minutes later before heading in on the stroke of half-time after Marco Ruben (18) had chipped the Yellow Submarine back in front. Ronaldo then gave Madrid the lead for the first time with 11 minutes to go and they secured victory when Kaká (82) buried his first goal for the club since February last year.
Espanyol hauled themselves up to fifth thanks to their resounding win against Zaragoza, the bottom side having no answer to efforts from Pablo Osvaldo (8), Luis García (30), Álvaro Vázquez (34) and Sergio García (87). The result took the victors level with Valencia CF, before the fourth-placed side moved within two points of Villarreal via a 1-0 success at Levante UD.
In eighth, RCD Mallorca hit four goals of their own as they defeated second-bottom UD Almería 4-1, while Diego Castro's added-time leveller earned Real Sporting de Gijón a 1-1 draw at Real Racing Club that lifted them off the foot of the table to 18th. CA Osasuna and Getafe CF could only draw 0-0, meanwhile.