Ronaldo hat-trick downs Celta

A 3-0 win over Celta Vigo saw Cristiano Ronaldo net a 23rd La Liga hat-trick and Real Madrid match Barcelona's record of 18 straight victories.

Los Blancos rung the changes from the 5-0 victory over Cornella in the Copa del Rey, with just James Rodriguez and Asier Illarramendi the only survivors due to Isco's red card against Malaga last weekend.

The visitors, meanwhile, suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Segunda side Las Palmas in the Copa and also opted to make widespread alterations, Gustavo Cabral and Pablo Hernandez the only remnants of the beaten team.

Unsurprisingly, the home side looked to take the game to Celta, and inside the first 10 minutes, Sergio Ramos – making his 300th Madrid appearance in La Liga – should have given his team the lead, were it not for his sliced finish from Sergio Alvarez's parry.

Ronaldo then appeared to have met Karim Benzema's drilled cross at the back post, but Jonny denied the No 7 with a critical intervention before he could pull the trigger for a certain goal.

The Portuguese's influence was growing as he carved out another two chances for himself. Ronald sent a spectacular overhead kick just over the bar from Illarramendi's cross, while he saw a chested volley from Marcelo's square pass plucked out by the Celta goalkeeper moments later.

However, the pressure eventually proved too much for Celta to handle. Jonny was adjudged to have pulled Ronaldo back in the box, leaving the 29-year-old with the simple-enough task of sending Alvarez the wrong way from the penalty spot.

James, an injury victim later in the game, also tried to get his name on the score sheet, but he saw two snapshots at goal well-saved by Alvarez, the latter of which required an important fingertip from the custodian to push the ball wide of the post.

The Galicians had to wait until after the restart for their first sight of goal, Fabian Orellana finding space near the edge of the Madrid box and curling a precise drive just wide of the target.

Back at the other end, Gareth Bale was found in the clear on the inside-left channel by Ronaldo, but the Welshman could only sting the palms of Alvarez from a matter of yards out.

Nonetheless, Los Blancos continued to adopt a direct style of play, and they were rewarded for their efforts when a series of deflections fell to Ronaldo, who blasted a low strike into the bottom-right corner for his second goal of the evening.

And with little over 10 minutes left on the clock, Madrid completed the rout with the perfect counterattack. Bale's strong run enabled him to pick out an overlapping Marcelo to his left, and the Brazilian's cross was routinely dispatched by an eager Ronaldo.

Last year's Ballon d'Or winner also made history on a personal level, as he surpassed Spanish legends Telmo Zarra and Alfredo Di Stefano in netting the most number of La Liga hat-tricks with 23, racking up his 200th La Liga goal in the process.

Nolito came within a whisker of pulling one back for Celta late on, crashing a free-kick into the side-netting, but Madrid held on for the clean sheet.

Real Madrid 3-0 Celta Vigo

Ronaldo 36, 65, 81

Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Bale, Illarramendi, Kroos, James (Arbeloa 53), Benzema (Coentrao 80), Ronaldo (Chicharito 85)

Celta Vigo: Alvarez; Mallo, Cabral (Gomez 74), Fontas, Jonny; Lopez, Radoja, Krohn-Dehli (Santi Mina 82); Orellana (Fernandez 70), Larrivey, Nolito

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mellanco

Tags Cristiano Ronaldo
La Liga - Club News