Cristiano Ronaldo ran riot with five goals and one assist as Real Madrid demolished Espanyol 6-0 to climb to 2nd position in La Liga.
Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 7th minute after running on to a glorious aerial pass by team mate Luka Modric and coolly slotting it past the diving Pau Lopez. 10 minutes later, Ronaldo doubled Reala s lead from the penalty spot after Gareth Bale was tripped in the box by the Espanyol defender. The Portuguese International completed his hat-trick in the first 20 minutes of the match, after rifling in a Gareth Bale cross from the left.
Eight minutes later Ronaldo turned provider, as a precise pass from the left edge of the box found Benzema in the middle, who tapped it in to make it 4-0 for the visitors. Ronaldo completed the rout in the second half as he scored his 4th and 5th goals of the match.
A second successive emphatic win for Real Madrid in the league lifts the pressure off Rafa Benitez who is criticized by many for his pragmatic approach to the game.
Here are the three things we learnt from the match.
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Cristiano Ronaldo Is Back To His Explosive Best
Cristiano Ronaldo silenced his critics in spectacular fashion as he tore apart Espanyol by scoring an incredible 5 goals for Real Madrid. Desperate to end his 8-game goal drought for club and country, Ronaldo terrorized a fledgling Espanyol defence all match long, through his immaculate movement and ruthless finishing. With seven shots overall and five on target, Ronaldo notched up his 28th La Liga hattrick for the Los Blancos a an astonishing achievement in itself.
His 5 goal haul saw him become the top goal scorer in the history of Real Madrid, moving ahead of club legends Raul Gonzalez and Alfredo Di Stefano. The sheer scale of Ronaldoa s achievement can be well gauged from the fact that he took merely 203 matches to reach his goal tally to 229 goals a one ahead of RaA?l, who needed 550 games to do so.
ESP 0-5 RMA (61′) – Cristiano Ronaldo just surpassed Raul and now is Real Madrid’s all time leading goal scorer in La Liga history.
a MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) September 12, 2015
BBC Look Lethal Again
The BBC trio (Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo) have made a glorious comeback to form this season with Ronaldo grabbing 5 goals and an assist, Bale managing 3 assists and Benzema scoring a goal against Espanyol in Catalonia.
BBC made a sensational start to the 2014-15 campaign as Real Madrid remained on top of La Liga until Christmas. Post Christmas though, BBC were emphatically upstaged by the Barcelonaa s magical trio of Messi-Suarez-Neymar as the Catalans replaced the Los Blancos at the top of the table and eventually won the league.
BBC have made a sensational start to this season after scoring 9 of Real Madrida s 11 goals in the 3 matches played. Benzema and Bale had already scored in Madrida s 5-0 thrashing of Real Betis, and Ronaldo soon followed up with 5 of his own against Espanyol.
Keylor Navas Continues To Impress In Goal
Real Madrida s goalkeeper Keylor Navas equalled the cluba s 40-year-old record set by the legendary Miguel Angel in 1975-76, as he kept a 3rd consecutive clean sheet against Espanyol on Saturday.
One can be forgiven for assuming that Navas had nothing to do in Real Madrida s emphatic 6-0 win over the Catalans. However, the Costa Rican International made a string of saves at crucial intervals for the Los Merengues to record his 3rd consecutive clean sheet of the current campaign. Navas endured a turbulent fortnight as he was on the verge of joining English giants Manchester United on deadline day as part of a swap deal which would have sent David de Gea the other way. The deal eventually fell through at the last moment on account of a delay in submitting official documents to the La Liga authorities.
Several experts lauded the immense mental strength and professionalism displayed by Keylor Navas as he lined up for Real Madrid at the weekend and put on an excellent display for a club which were minutes away from selling him.
Real Madrid will be hoping Navas continues to put in excellent displays in front of goal for the club if they are to challenge for trophies on multiple fronts this season.
Keylor Navas is the first Real Madrid goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in the 3 first Liga matches since 1975. De Gea who? a Ouriel Daskal (@Soccerissue) September 13, 2015
