Cristiano dazzles with a five-goal haul

Real Madrid picked up a win and administered a thrashing to Granada CF on matchday 29 of the Liga BBVA. The fixture was characterised by the dominance of the los blancos performance, with Cristiano Ronaldo at the heart of things as he managing to score five goals, three coming in the first half and two after the half time break. Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, with a brace, and Diego Mainz, who scored an own goal, rounded off the Real Madrid mauling.

The home team’s first chance fell to Karim Benzema. The Frenchman was able to strike the ball first time but was denied by a great save from Oier Olazábal. Granada also created a few threats of their own and, in the 14th minute, a long-range effort by Robert Ibáñez grazed the bottom of the post. Álvaro Arbeloa had a clear opportunity to open the scoring in the 22nd minute but Real Madrid would have to wait a further four minutes to make it 1-0. Toni Kroos split the Granada defence open with a pass which found Gareth Bale alone with just the keeper to beat and, after darting past him, the Welshman was able to knock the ball into an open net in the 26'.

Cristiano Ronaldo became the star of the show from the half-hour mark onwards. The Portuguese man scored a hat-trick in the space of just eight minutes. His first goal came in the 30th minute, with James Rodríguez, who was making his return from injury, providing the assist. He got his second by latching onto a poor punch from Oier in the 36' and completed his first half hat-trick in the 38' with a right-footed strike. The closest the Andalusians came to scoring in the first half was just before the break when Youseff El Arabi hit the bar.

Carlo Ancelotti’s players did not drop their tempo after the restart and added three to their tally in the space of just six minutes, two coming from Benzema in the 52nd and 56th minutes, and another from Cristiano, who sealed his quartet of goals in what was a memorable afternoon for Real Madrid. Robert managed to get a consolation goal for the Granada but the visitors’ pain was compounded in the dying minutes through a Diego Mainz own goal and a fifth for Cristiano Ronaldo.