Cristiano Ronaldo scored four goals as Real Madrid strolled past Elche in a game of three penalties.
Ronaldo converted two of them with his other goals a towering header and a calm finish as Madrid made it 13 goals in two games with the Portugal forward scoring seven of them.
Referee Clos Gomez awarded two penalties inside the first 30 minutes, first for Elche and then for Real Madrid, with neither decision particularly convincing. They were both emphatically scored, by Edu Albacar and Ronaldo respectively.
Gareth Bale scored in between the penalties, flicking a header past Manu Herrera from James Rodriguez’s cross, before Ronaldo netted a header of his own after a Marcelo delivery.
Ronaldo’s hat-trick goal came after he was tripped in the box, a rare moment of action in a soporific second half. It was the clearest penalty of the lot but on the standards of the other two, that’s not saying much.
Bale’s assist sent Ronaldo away for his fourth and Madrid’s fifth, the No.7 slotting past Herrera.
Keylor Navas got his Madrid debut, one of four changes made by Carlo Ancelotti from the XI that routed Deportivo La Coruna. Navas, like Herrera, had no chance of saving the penalty he faced. Herrera, meanwhile, was brought in for Przemyslaw Tyton as Fran Escriba also made four changes from the side that lost to Eibar.
Elche’s penalty came after Ronaldo was harshly punished as he tried to clear a corner, making slight contact with Pedro Mosquera. It was at least more contact than sent Marcelo down later but both were questionable decisions.
If Herrera was blameless as the penalty flew past him it wasn’t the case for Bale’s goal, which shouldn’t have evaded the 32-year-old. Ronaldo’s header, the product of a trademark Ronaldo leap, did pose more of a problem, with the same result.
Ronaldo and Toni Kroos had chances to add to the score but the urgency was out of Madrid’s game. Elche meanwhile remained willing but getting enough players forward to alter the score was a problem as the onus was on not falling further behind.
A sleepy second half was awakened briefly by Ronaldo’s third goal, the most clear-cut penalty of the night and dispatched as decisively as the game’s other two spot kicks. Madrid hit the bar shortly after with the half ending in contrast to the half-hour that preceded it. Madrid duly claimed a perfunctory win, early scare aside, Ronaldo’s fourth giving the scoreline some gloss.
Real Madrid 5-1 Elche
Albacar pen 15 (E), Bale 20, Ronaldo pen 28, 32, pen 80, 90+2 (RM)
Real Madrid: Navas; Carvajal (Arbeloa 65), Varane, Ramos (Nacho 82), Marcelo; James (Hernandez), Kroos, Illarra, Isco; Bale, Ronaldo
Elche: Manu Herrera; Domingo Cisma, Pelegrin, Lomban, Edu Albacar; Mosquera, Adrian (Pasalic 67), Víctor; Rodrigues (Cristian 77), Coro (Fajr 60), Jonathas
Referee: Clos Gomez
