A spirited performance from Cristiano Ronaldo and a hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain drew the big difference between Real Madrid and hosts Espanyol on Sunday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on fire in attack. Even though team mate Gonzalo Higuain stole the headlines with his first hat-trick of the season, Ronaldo’s performance couldn’t be overlooked.
The Portuguese, who was involved in several offensive moves, provided the assist for Higuain’s opener. At some point in the game, Real Madrid also had a clear penalty appeal turned down; Ronaldo’s chip in the box hit the arm of an Espanyol defender but the referee waved play on.
At the other end of the field, Iker Casillas also got tested by Sergio Garcia. But the Spanish goalkeeper produced a great save to keep his line clean ahead of the half-time whistle. Higuain doubled his tally inside the 66th minute.
Jose Callejon then put his name on the scoring sheet against his former team. Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo was to thank for making such a good run towards the D before breaking and passing the ball to Callejon who was left to slot it into the net from a few yards out.
With a minute of normal time remaining on the clock, Higuain completed his hat-trick late to round up Real Madrid’s 4-0 victory over Espanyol.
Thanks to this win, Los Blancos went back into the top 3 of La Liga standings. Real Madrid are 1 point behind joint leaders Barcelona and Levante with 13 points. Espanyol have gone down to 15th.
The Portuguese, who was involved in several offensive moves, provided the assist for Higuain’s opener. At some point in the game, Real Madrid also had a clear penalty appeal turned down; Ronaldo’s chip in the box hit the arm of an Espanyol defender but the referee waved play on.
At the other end of the field, Iker Casillas also got tested by Sergio Garcia. But the Spanish goalkeeper produced a great save to keep his line clean ahead of the half-time whistle. Higuain doubled his tally inside the 66th minute.
Jose Callejon then put his name on the scoring sheet against his former team. Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo was to thank for making such a good run towards the D before breaking and passing the ball to Callejon who was left to slot it into the net from a few yards out.
With a minute of normal time remaining on the clock, Higuain completed his hat-trick late to round up Real Madrid’s 4-0 victory over Espanyol.
Thanks to this win, Los Blancos went back into the top 3 of La Liga standings. Real Madrid are 1 point behind joint leaders Barcelona and Levante with 13 points. Espanyol have gone down to 15th.
