Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid kept on the trail of leader Barcelona with a 5-1 rout of Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish League on Sunday.
The visitor took a shock lead after 15 minutes through Riki but Madrid quickly bounced back with Ronaldo hitting his first from the penalty spot after Angel di Maria was felled. It was di Maria himself who put his team ahead and then Ronaldo got his second shortly before the break.
With Madrid controlling the game Pepe headed home and Ronaldo scored another penalty in the second half to complete the rout and remain eight points behind Barcelona which beat Sevilla 3-2 on Saturday.
Earlier, Valladolid demolished Rayo Valladolid 6-1, Osasuna made easy work of Levante with a 4-0 victory while Granada came out on top 2-1 against Celta Vigo.
Inter Milan finally launched what has been billed an unlikely bid for Italian League title after a pulsating 2-1 win over Fiorentina moved it up to third in the table. City rivals Inter and AC Milan had both failed to win at their shared ground in their first three league games, prompting Italian media to suggest both were subject to a San Siro ‘curse’.
Important results: Spanish League: Real Madrid 5 (Ronaldo 23-pen, 44, 84-pen, di Maria 38, Pepe 67) bt Deportivo la Coruna 1 (Riki 16); Espanyol 0 lost to Atletico Madrid 1 (Raul Garcia 30).
Italian League: Inter Milan 2 (Milito 17, Cassano 34) bt Fiorentina 1 (Romulo 40) .
