Cristiano Ronaldo scored hat-trick number 25 of his Real Madrid career as Carlo Ancelotti’s side made it 18 goals in three games with a comfortable win over Elche.
This was Ronaldo’s eight goal in a week and after the game he asked about the state of his happiness at the club.
He said: ‘Things are going well for more on a personal level the team is scoring goals, winning matches and playing well.’ Asked about Jose Mourinho’s recent comments about the pair no longer having a relationship, he added: ‘It’s not for me to talk about things like that I’m just concentrating on what we are doing on the pitch.’
After a string of poor performances in the domestic league, Madrid has bounced back with five goals against Basle in the Champion’s League, eight against Deportivo and five against Elche.
Tougher opposition will be faced in the coming weeks but yesterday’s victory will be massive for their confidence. Ronaldo scored a fourth converting a ball fed in by Gareth Bale.
The highlight of the first half was a poor refereeing decision which saw him point at the spot when Ronaldo looked to clear from inside the penalty box and caught Pedro Mosquera unintentionally. Ronaldo admitted later that it was a penalty but teams seemed confused.
Minutes later, the referee made another controversial decision but this time in Madrid’s favour.
Gary Mendes Rodrigues went down under a challenge from Marcelo. It was debatable whether the challenge had been a foul but the brought the Elche forward crashing to ground was inside the area. Clos gave a free-kick on the edge of the area that Elche wasted.
Before the next bizarre penalty incident Real Madrid were level with Bale heading in James Rodriguez’ cross. It was his fifth goal in five games – aided by Manu Herrera’s very flat dive.
Then came penalty number two with Gomez pointing to the spot after minimal contact from Mosquera on Marcelo – again players from both sides looked bemused but Ronaldo’s penalty was unstoppable into the top right-hand corner.
Real Madrid extended their lead when Ronaldo scored with another thundering header this time from a Bale cross.
The home side were now in complete control and debutant keeper Keylor Navas was having less and less to do. In for the rested Iker Casillas who is expected to brought back into the side for the weekend’s difficult trip to Villarreal, it was Navas first competitive match since the World Cup.
Casillas was still the centre of attention with cameras focused on the bench as he munched on an apple during the second half. He appears to be a dead man walking in Madrid’s battle of the goalkeepers with Navas unlikely to still be the number two next season. For now however the greatest keeper in Spain’s history retains seniority and this start for Navas was seen as a reward for his patience.
Madrid toiled for the fourth goal and Ronaldo came close with a shot drilled towards Herrera’s near post scrambled away by the keeper who then fumbled the resulting corner kick.
Javier Hernandez came on with ten minutes left replacing James. The former Manchester United former had staked his claim for a place in the starting line-up with two goals against Deportivo last weekend but as if to show how difficult it will be for him to get into Carlo Ancelotti’s starting line-up, he was on the bench again despite the debut goals.
Hernandez’s appearance did bring a goal but it came from another former United player with Ronaldo wining another slightly dubious penalty and thrashing it home for goal number four and hat-trick number 25. He and Bale had not finished and there was a late fourth for Ronaldo – his eighth goal inside a week.
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