Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 29th hat-trick of his Real Madrid career to drag his team back up to just two points behind Barcelona with a 3-2 win over Sevilla.
It was the first time Unai Emery’s side had been beaten at home in 35 games and it was Ronaldo that ended that 15 month unbeaten run.
In the hours leading up to the game, it cannot have made pleasant pre-match viewing as he watched Barcelona put eight past Cordoba and Lionel Messi score his 40th and 41st goal of the season but he responded in the best possible way.
Cristiano Ronaldo led Real Madrid to victory and scored twice for his team in the first half of the game
Ronaldo (third left) scored twice in the 36th and 37th minute of the game against Sevilla
Ronaldo (right) celebrates in the first half with Marcelo (left) and Javier Hernandez
Ronaldo got two of his goals while Sevilla had a player off receiving treatment. Sergio Ramos gave away a penalty which Carlos Bacca scored just before half time but Ronaldo headed in substitute Gareth Bale’s cross to mean even a late Vicente Iborra goal could not prevent Real taking all three points.
Ronaldo came into the game having scored 18 goals against Sevilla including four goals in one game.
He had the first chance with a free-kick that he blazed over and his next shot from distance went the same way with Marcelo better placed and free for a pass on the left. The full-back then crossed but Sevilla keeper Sergio Rico denied Ronaldo from close range.
Sevilla were a threat too and Aleix Vidal could have scored had Iker Casillas not got something on his shot, leaving Rafael Varane to clear from just inside the six-yard box.
Carlos Bacca was proving a handful for both Varane and Pepe who partnered each other with Ramos moved into midfield. The Columbian crossed from the right and Jose Antonio Reyes couldn’t quite stretch to turn the ball in.
The former Arsenal winger has reinvented himself back at his first club Sevilla. Now the team’s 31-years-old captain, he was operating more centrally and deeper against one of his former clubs and the home side were a match for their rivals until they spent seven minutes with just ten men and conceded twice before they got their injured player back on.
Of all the heads to have smack back into his nose when going up for a header Ramos's would be the last Grzegorz Krychowiak would have chosen. He clashed with the granite Spain international and was taken off the pitch to have the blood cleaned from his face.
He dived in on former Queens Park Rangers midfielder Stephane M’bia and left the referee pointing to the spot and bringing out the yellow card. Bacca converted and Sevilla were back in it.
Gareth Bale came on for Hernandez on minute 65 with Ancelotti looking to stretch Sevilla as they went for the equalizer.
The change brought the third goal for Ronaldo and Real Madrid. Bale crossed from the right and Ronaldo rose at the far post to head the ball back into the other corner. It was a magnificent header. Even if the Portuguese forward had none of his speed and skill he would still score 25 goals a season just heading in crosses.
It was his 29th hat-trick for Real Madrid, no-one, not even Alfredo Di Stefano with 28 has scored more.
Krychowiak went off – this time to be replaced by another player. How his time receiving treatment had cost Sevilla in the first half.
Ronaldo (second left) headed in the third, which proved to be decisive against Sevilla on Saturday
Ronaldo celebrates with Bale after the Wales international provided the assist for his third goal
The home side’s changes worked as well as Real Madrid’s when substitute Kevin Gameiro played a pass inside the full-back to send Vidal to byline.
He pulled the ball back and Vicente Iborra swept it past Casillas. But Casillas saved at the feet of Iborra and Real held on for what was their goalkeeper's 333rd victory in La Liga, equalling a record held by Andoni Zubizarreta.
Not that his record, or Ronaldo's, or the fact that he had moved back to the top of the goalscoring charts meant as much as the three points that keep Real Madrid in the title race for another week.
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