Ronaldo the hat-trick hero as top two win again in Spain
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Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo shoots to score his third goal past Real Mallorca's goalkeeper Dudu Aouate (R) during their Spanish first division soccer match at Ono stadium in Palma de Mallorca May 5, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick as Real Madrid came back from a goal down to secure what in the end was a comfortable 4-1 win in Mallorca.
Mallorca, looking for a top 4 finish and a place in next season' s Champions League, opened the scoring through Aritz Aduriz after 15 minutes. The home side' s lead lasted just 10 minutes before Ronaldo scored with a smart lob after controlling a long ball over the home defense.
He then added two further goals after halftime to make the win secure before Gonzalo Higuain rounded the night off with a goal from inside the visitors area.
The win keeps Real Madrid within one point of FC Barcelona, who had beaten Tenerife by a similar score 24 hours earlier. Leo Messi, Bojan and Pedro scored the goals for Barcelona.
The relegation question still has a long way to go before it is answered after Wednesday' s matches.
Malaga took a valuable 1-1 draw away to Athletic Club Bilbao. Duda scored directly from a corner to cancel out Gaizka Toquero' s opener for Athletic.
Valladolid' s hopes of survival suffered a setback with a 3-1 defeat away to Atletico Madrid. Juanito, Jurado and Diego Forlan scoring for the Europa League finalists.
Zaragoza took another step towards safety with a 1-0 win at home to Espanyol. Adrian Colunga scored a penalty 10 minutes from time to lift Zaragoza closer to safety.
Racing Santander, however, faces a difficult end to the season after crashing 5-1 at home to a Sevilla team still chasing a top four finish. Alvaro Negredo did his World Cup hopes no harm with two goals, while Jesus Navas, Diego Capel and Freddy Kanoute from the penalty spot secured the result.
