Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick in a 4-1 win over Mallorca on
Wednesday kept Real Madrid within a point of leader Barcelona with
two round left in the Spanish league.
Ronaldo has now scored 32 goals in all competitions, 25 in
the league and seven in the Champions League.
Barcelona leads the standings with 93 points. Valencia is
third with 68, eight more than Sevilla and one in front of
Mallorca.
Also Wednesday, it was: Racing Santander 1, Sevilla 5;
Atletico Madrid 3, Valladolid 1; Zaragoza 1, Espanyol 0; Osasuna 3,
Deportivo La Coruna 1 and Athletic Bilbao 1, Malaga 1.
Madrid had to come from behind to beat Mallorca, with Aritz
Aduriz scoring from the edge of the box in the 16th minute to
reward to sustained pressure on goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Ronaldo equalized 10 minutes later, skilfully redirecting
Sergio Ramos' 40-meter pass over goalkeeper Dudu Aouate and into
the goal.
Casillas was then forced to make two athletic saves in 15
minutes when Madrid conceded three corners.
However, Ronaldo controlled another long pass from Ramos with
his chest inside the penalty area and slotted the ball into the net
in the 57th minute.
Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini substituted Kaka with Jose
Maria "Guti" Gutierrez two minutes later.
Ronaldo beat defenders Jose Miguel Gonzalez and then Carlos
Nunes to collect his third goal in the 72nd minute.
Leading Madrid scorer Gonzalo Higuain hit his 26th goal of
the season when he lobbed Aouate in the 82nd minute.
Alvaro Negredo scored the first and last goal as Sevilla
thrashed Santander 5-1.
He hit the net in the second minute, beating Anders Palop
after the goalkeeper had stopped Jesus Navas' hard shot. Negredo
finished the scoring in the 89th minute, sending a powerful
left-footed volley home for his 11th goal of the season.
Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Frederic Kanoute also scored for
Sevilla, while Mohamed Tchite pulled one back for Santander.
Kanoute made it 2-0 in the 21st minute from the penalty spot
after Santander defender Nasief Morris had tripped Capel. Navas
made it 3-0 with a header at the far post from a cross by Capel on
the left wing in the 46th minute.
A minute later, Capel beat the offside trap and Palop. Tchite
narrowed the gap in the 61st before Morris was sent off for a
second yellow card following a late tackle from behind on Capel in
the 78th minute.
Atletico's Juan Gutierrez rifled in Jose Jurado's cross in
the 43rd minute, and Jurado added a second in the 66th. Teamate
Diego Forlan scored his 18th goal of the season in the 73rd minute.
Jonathan Sesma pulled one back for Valladolid in the 78th.
Osasuna's Adrian Colunga converted a penalty in the 78th
after Espanyol lost Nicolas Pareja to a second yellow card.
Deportivo goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia parried a powerful shot
from Carlos Aranda, only to see Javier Camunas pounce on the
clearance to score in the 11th minute.
Ivan Sanchez-Rico put Deportivo 2-1 up four minutes later,
but Walter Pandiani's header in the 24th leveled again for Osasuna.
Juan Francisco Torres scored Osasuna's third from a cross by
forward Carlos Aranda in the 32nd minute.
Athletic's Gaizka Toquero scored in the fifth minute, but
Malaga's Duda equalized from a corner with his seventh goal of the
season in the 19th.
