Cristiano Ronaldo’s scorching form continued as he poured in four goals in Real Madrid’s 6-3 victory over Girona on Sunday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.
There were some interesting decisions made by manager Zinedne Zidane, namely Sergio Ramos not even included on the matchday roster. Also, the likes of Bale, Casemiro and Modric were on the bench, while Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Mateo Kovacic all got the nod.
Real Madrid came out strong and Girona goalkeeper Bono had to spring into action to save attempts from Ronaldo and Lucas Vazquez inside the first 10 minutes. But any onlooker could tell that a Real goal was bound to come, and Ronaldo dutifully obliged by taking a cut-back pass from Toni Kroos and ripping a one-timer past Bono for a 1-0 lead.
Girona were not about to lay down though, and Portu came close to equalising midway through the half but saw a shot deflect wide. If he had been more alert, he would have seen Cristhian Stuani all alone in front of goal. Yet the Uruguayan would get his chance on the resulting corner kick, as he easily eluded Dani Carvajal and thumped in a header past Navas to pull Girona level 1-1.
The Girona goal was a bit unnerving for the home side. They peppered Bono with a couple long-range efforts, but nothing the Canadian-born stopper could not handle, and the Catalonians were surely feeling good about their chances of victory at a quieted Bernabeu heading into the break.
But Real got back to their combining best to start the second-half and Ronaldo pulled Los Blancos back ahead 2-1 just two minutes after the re-start by banging in a shot after some nifty passing from Kovacic, Lucas Vazquez and Karim Benzema, with the Frenchman setting up the Portuguese for his second.
Team football was back on display at the Bernabeu, and by the hour mark Lucas Vazquez had stretched the lead to 3-1 after some good work from Marcelo and Benzema down the left before a cross into Ronaldo, who then served up a pass on a silver platter for Lucas Vazquez to fire in.
Girona had no answer, and Ronaldo could not have asked for an easier chance to score his hat-trick and extend the lead to 4-1. Asensio did well to find an unmarked Benzema, whose shot was blocked but it fell perfectly for Ronaldo to pounce on and score.
Just when Real thought they had things locked up though, Girona worked themselves right back into the contest, and again it was Stuani wreaking havoc and cutting the lead to 4-2. A free-kick was curled into the box and Stuani made Carvajal his victim again with another header that beat Navas.
Girona’s late charge made for a very nervy quarter-hour for the Bernabeu. Ramalho should have cut the deficit to one when left alone at the far post, which was followed by a Varane error that required Navas to make a last-ditch save.
Two of Zidane’s second-half substitutes would hook up to calm the home supporters down, as Modric found an onside Bale and the Welshman finished past Bono for a 5-2 lead.
But back came Girona, and Juanpi scored Girona’s third header of the match in the final minutes by redirecting in a corner kick to make it 5-3.
The day belonged to Ronaldo however, and so it was only fitting that he had the final say, slotting home his fourth of the night in second-half stoppage time to cap the 6-3 scoreline.
Real will return to action after the international break on March 31 at Las Palmas.
Match Sheet:
6.- Real Madrid: Keylor; Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo; Kroos, Kovacic (Modric, min. 71), Lucas, Asensio (Bale, min. 70); Benzema (Isco, min. 83), Cristiano Ronaldo.
3.- Girona: Bono; Maffeo (Aday, min. 83), Ramalho, Bernardo, Juanpe, Mojica; Pere Pons, Granell; Portu, Borja Garcia (Choco Lozano, min. 69), Stuani (Olunga, min. 87).
Goals: 1-0, min. 11: Cristiano Ronaldo; 1-1, min. 29: Stuani; 2-1, min. 48: Cristiano Ronaldo; 3-1, min. 60: Lucas Vazquez; 4-1, min. 64: Cristiano Ronaldo; 4-2, min. 67: Stuani; 5-2, min. 86: Bale; 5-3, min. 88: Juanpi; 6-3, min. 92: Cristiano Ronaldo.
Referee: Gil Manzano (Extremaduran).
Yellow cards: Mojica (Min. 31) for Girona, Carvajal (Min. 53) for Real Madrid.
Red cards: None.
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu.
Attendance: 59.097.
