Soccer

La Liga round-up: Cristiano Ronaldo records 50th career hat-trick

Barcelona close in on title after with over Athletic Bilbao while Atletico Madrid slip up at Villarreal

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo takes the ball at the end of the match against Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

Sun Mar 18 2018 - 22:07

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his remarkable scoring streak with four goals as Real Madrid beat Girona 6-3 in LaLiga.

The Portugal star hit a 50th career hat-trick to take his league tally to 22 goals for the season in another commanding performance at the Bernabeu.

Girona, who beat Real earlier this season, caused them plenty of problems again with Cristhian Stuani scoring twice and Juanpe also on target.

But there was no stopping Ronaldo, who has now hit an incredible 17 goals in his last eight appearances in all competitions, while Lucas Vasquez and Gareth Bale also found the net for the hosts.

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Earlier in the day, Barcelona took a giant step towards winning the title after they beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 and nearest challengers Atletico Madrid lost 2-1 at Villarreal, giving the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the standings.

Paco Alcacer took the place of suspended striker Luis Suarez in the starting line-up and scored a first goal in three months to put Barca ahead in the eighth minute at the Nou Camp, side-footing home a pass from Jordi Alba.

Lionel Messi scored for the sixth game in a row in all competitions and for the 25th time in this league campaign when he doubled Barca's lead in the 30th minute with a deadly strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann won and converted a penalty to put his side ahead at Villarreal in the 20th minute. However, Turkey striker Enes Unal headed in a deserved equaliser in the 82nd and then struck the winner from close range in stoppage time. The visitors had forward Vitolo sent off moments later.

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