Cristiano Ronaldo struck his first Real Madrid hat-trick as the
title hopefuls produced a brilliant second-half display to down
4-1 Real Mallorca and trim the gap on leaders Barcelona back to
one point with two games remaining.
Ronaldo, who had previously netted eight braces in Madrid colours
but never gone on to claim a treble, struck in the 26th, 57th and
72nd minutes to cancel out Aritz Aduriz`s early opener for Mallorca.
Gonzalo Higuain then added a late fourth for Madrid, putting the
Argentinian on 26 for the season - one ahead of team-mate Ronaldo
and five behind Barcelona's Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring
charts.
For Madrid, the win was their ninth on the trot away from home
and 17th victory in their last 18 league games, and means they are
right back in the title race.
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