Christiano Ronaldo Scores his 23rd Hat-trick for Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 23rd Real Madrid hat-trick as they swept aside Real Sociedad to move within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Ronaldo opened the scoring early with an angled finish before setting up striker Karim Benzema for the second.
The Portuguese forward’s penalty put the game beyond the visitors while Gareth Bale fed Sami Khedira for the fourth.
Sociedad’s Antoine Griezmann pulled one back with a rising finish but a Ronaldo free-kick wrapped up the win and his hat-trick.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have scored 15 goals in the last three league games, with Ronaldo scoring eight of them.
The 28-year-old former Manchester United player now has 27 goals in 19 appearances for club and country this season, including four hat-tricks.
It was the perfect warm-up for his showdown with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who also scored a hat-trick for Paris St-Germain, when Portugal face Sweden in a World Cup qualifying play-off, the first leg taking place in Portugal on 15 November.
The win closed the gap on Barcelona but the league leaders visit struggling Real Betis on Sunday.
In other matches in the La Liga, Athletic Club beat Levante 2 – 1 while Getafe played a 1 – 1 draw with Elche.
Today’s Matches
12:00 Espanyol vs Sevilla
Cornell-ElPrat
17:00 Valencia CF vs Real Valladolid
Mestalla
19:00 Villarreal vs Atltico de Madrid
ElMadrigal
21:00 Real Betis vs Barcelona
BenitoVillamarn
