Ronaldo double lifts Real to win over Sociedad
Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice to lead Real Madrid to a 4-1 home win over Real Sociedad on Sunday which trimmed Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to seven points.
Kaka and Emmanuel Adebayor also scored as Real bounced back from last weekend’s shock defeat at Osasuna to stay in touch with the champions.
Barcelona went 10 points clear after World Player of the Year Lionel Messi netted his fourth hat-trick of the season in a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday, a record 16th successive victory for the Catalan club.
Portuguese Ronaldo continued his personal duel with the Argentina international, drawing level with him in the La Liga scoring charts on 24 goals as Real climbed to 54 points from 22 matches.
With Ronaldo, Kaka and Mesut Ozil providing attacking flair and pace and new loan signing Adebayor leading the line, Jose Mourinho’s side thrilled their fans at the Bernabeu with a dominant and entertaining performance.
Brazil playmaker Kaka, who hit the crossbar in the second half, continued his return from a serious knee injury when he controlled the ball on the edge of the area and stroked it low past goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the eighth minute.
Ronaldo had not scored in four matches and ended that barren run with a powerful left-foot strike from outside the area in the 21st.
He celebrated turning 26 on Saturday shortly before halftime when he leaped above the Sociedad defence to send a header flying high past Bravo.
The visitors pulled a fortunate goal back in the 72nd when Iker Casillas blocked Raul Tamudo’s shot and the ball rebounded off Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa and into the net.
Togo striker Adebayor, who scored his first goal for Real since joining from Manchester City in Wednesday’s King’s Cup semi-final against Sevilla, clipped in Real’s fourth a minute from time. “It always help when you score an early goal,” Real’s Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso, a former Sociedad player, said in a television interview.
“We controlled the game tonight and it was a complete performance spoiled only by conceding the goal,” he added.
In the earlier kickoff, Sevilla were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Andalusian rivals Malaga.
Fourth-placed Valencia can close to within a point of Villarreal with a home win over promoted Hercules in Sunday’s late game (2000 GMT).
Villarreal lost their unbeaten home record when they crashed to a 1-0 defeat by local rivals Levante on Saturday.