Real Madrid 7 : 0 Malaga - Ronaldo treble as Madrid crush Malaga

Posted Thursday, March 03, 2011 by PA

Cristiano Ronaldo struck a second-half hat-trick as rampant Real Madrid swept aside 10-man Malaga 7-0 to trim Barcelona's lead at the top of the Primera Division table back to seven points.

Madrid, looking to bounce back from their disappointing goalless draw at Deportivo La Coruna, had the match all but sewn up by half-time after building a 3-0 lead through goals from Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria and Marcelo.

Ronaldo then took centre-stage with three goals after the break - his first strikes in five games - while Benzema added a second as Madrid recorded their biggest league win under Jose Mourinho.

Ronaldo asked to leave the pitch immediately after scoring his third goal and Madrid's seventh in the 77 minute, leaving the hosts with 10 men for the remainder of the match having used all three substitutes.

Malaga were already a man down by that stage, though, with defender Manolo Gaspar having been dismissed in the 67th minute after conceding a penalty.

The defeat for Malaga means the Andalusian side remain stuck in the bottom two and made it a miserable return to the Bernabeu for coach Manuel Pellegrini, who was replaced by Mourinho last summer after just one season in charge of the Spanish giants.

Mourinho, who caused a stir on Wednesday, with comments about Pellegrini's subsequent decision to take over at Malaga, opted to start with Benzema up front instead of Emmanuel Adebayor and he was rewarded when the Frenchman opened the scoring in the 27th minute.

Xabi Alonso curled a free-kick in towards the far post where Benzema neatly steered a volley past Willy Caballero with the outside of his right foot.

That opened the floodgates as Madrid created chance after chance en route to making it 23 successive wins at the Bernabeu.

Mesut Ozil was unlucky not to score when his 29th-minute free-kick came back off the post but Madrid were celebrating a second goal soon enough though, thanks in large to some dismal defending by Malaga.

Eliseu Pereira and Gaspar both should have done better, but their errors allowed Marcelo to put the ball through for Di Maria to race onto, and the Argentinian coolly slotting past Caballero.

The same two Madrid players then combined again to add a third goal on the stroke of half-time, with Di Maria's chip over the Malaga defence being slammed in on the half-volley by Marcelo.

With the points all but secured, the only question was how many goals Madrid would add in the second period.

Ronaldo was denied by a fine save by Caballero soon after the re-start, but the Portugal international got his name on the scoresheet six minutes into the second half.

Madrid went close again through Ronaldo before Benzema made it 5-0 with his fifth of the season in the 62nd minute, nodding in at the far-post from a fine Marcelo cross.

Malaga briefly had a chance to pull a goal back in the 65th but Sebastian Fernandez fired wide with just Iker Casillas to beat, and two minutes after that the visitors found themselves 6-0 down and reduced to 10 men.

Marcelo's cross struck Gaspar's arm in the area, earning the Malaga right-back his second yellow card and Madrid a penalty, which Ronaldo slammed into the roof of the net.

Rampant Madrid almost added a seventh two minutes after that but Benzema and Ronaldo were both denied hat-trick goals by a brilliant double-save from Caballero.

Ronaldo was celebrating his treble soon enough though, diverting Sergio Canales' cross past Caballero to complete the scoring three minutes from time.

That was Ronaldo's 27th league goal of the season but it was also his last action of the match as he left the pitch immediately, and Madrid will be hoping it is nothing serious.