Madrid, Nov 20 (IANS) Three goals by Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo helped Real Madrid to outplay Atletico de Madrid 3-0 at Vicente Calderon Stadium here.
The solid victory saw Real Madrid in the lead at halftime 1-0 as Rolando scored in the 22nd minute of the game,reports Efe on Saturday.
The second half saw a hotly argued penalty of Stefan Savic against Cristiano, who made perfect use of the opportunity with a low, swift boot into the net that didn't give Oblak a chance to stop it, and at 70th minute the score stood at 2-0.
After the second goal, Ronaldo did not wait too long as after seven minutes Isco and Gareth Bale put together a masterful counterattack that Cristiano finished off to complete his hat trick and make the final score 3-0 at minute 77.
This was the second straight defeat in La Liga for Atletico, which had only lost two championship matches in a row back in 2012. It also left Atletico nine points behind Real Madrid.
--IANS
gau/vt
