Real Madrid will go into the Spanish winter break with a three-point advantage over Barcelona after a 6-2 win at Sevilla.
With Barça away in Japan playing in the FIFA Club World Cup duty, José Mourinho’s side took full advantage and went in front through Cristiano Ronaldo. José Callejón doubled the lead on 37 minutes, with Ronaldo’s spectacular strike making it 3-0.
Real Madrid played the whole of thee second half with 10-men after Pepe was sent off a minute before half-time. But having the extra man did not help Sevilla one bit as Real Madrid continued to run riot.
Madrid went four up through Ángel Di María. Jesús Navas swiftly replied for Sevilla but Ronaldo’s penalty, which completed his fifth Liga hat-trick of the season, and Hamit Altıntop ensured that Real Madrid scored six or more in a top-flight match for the fourth time this season.
The hat-trick was quite the response by Ronaldo who has ben hammered by the Spanish media for his performance against Barcelona last weekend. Although I am sure that some in the Spanish press will say that this just shows that Ronaldo can score against average teams but he cannot score in the big games.
Elsewhere, Thievy Bifouma and Sergio García were on target as Espanyol moved up to seventh with a 2-1 victory at lowly Real Sporting de Gijón. Getafe won by the same scoreline at Mallorca, as did Athletic Club against bottom-of-the-table Real Zaragoza.
