CR7 scores hat trick as Real Madrid roll past Deportivo La Coruña
BARCELONA, Spain --
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick, Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez added braces and Real Madrid rolled to an 8-2 rout at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday to emphatically end its two-game losing skid in the Spanish league.
Ronaldo scored his first two goals on either side of James Rodriguez's superb long strike to decide the match at Riazor Stadium before halftime.
Rodriguez then helped the Ballon d'Or holder score his eighth goal in as many matches across all competitions this season in the second half as Deportivo completely crumbled.
After back-to-back losses to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, Madrid rebounded by routing Basel 5-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
This lopsided victory will go a long way to satisfying its fans who had turned on the team recently and directed jeers at team captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Madrid's second win in four rounds of league play pulled it one point from Atletico Madrid before the defending champion hosts Celta Vigo later. League leader Barcelona is three points ahead of Madrid before it visits Levante on Sunday.
Ronaldo showed his special combination of physical prowess and fine scoring touch to take Madrid's opening goal in the 22nd minute. The Portugal forward jumped and hung in the air before gently heading Alvaro Arbeloa's cross over goalkeeper German Lux.
Four minutes later Lux could only watch again as Rodriguez curled an exquisite left-foot shot from outside the area over his head and just inside the corner of the goal.
Helpless to stop Madrid's first two goals, Lux was largely to blame for the third. The goalkeeper rashly rushed out of his area when Karim Benzema ran onto Marcelo's long pass even though two defenders were in place to dispute the ball. His gaff left Ronaldo alone to get his second in the 41st.
Deportivo's Haris Medunjanin pulled one back from the penalty spot after Sergio Ramos used his hand to block Isaac Cuenca's header in the 51st.
But Marcelo spotted Bale's run across the box and the Welshman used one touch to turn the ball beyond Lux, who grazed it but not enough to stop it from going in off the post in the 66th.
Bale's second goal was similar, except this time it was substitute Francisco ''Isco'' Alarcon who slipped the ball through for Bale to lift over Lux in the 74th.
Ronaldo fired in his third in the 78th after Rodriguez had stolen the ball and set him up. Jose ''Toche'' Verdu scored a header for the hosts 10 minutes later.
Hernandez went on for Bale in the 75th and the Mexico striker scored in the 88th with a long strike for his first goal since arriving this offseason from Manchester United. He then added another goal in stoppage time against Deportivo's ravaged defense.
Athletic Bilbao hosts Granada later while Malaga is at Espanyol.
