Real Madrid kept themselves eight points behind rival Barcelona with a dominant 5-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna.
Real Madrid almost had a sigh of relief Saturday as the 90th minute came in the Barcelona-Sevilla match, but two quick goals in the final four minutes of the match (89th minute and the third of stoppage) ended any Madrid hopes of closing the lead to two by the end of the next week's Clasico match with their hated rivals.
As a result, they knew that the pressure had mounted in their match with Deportivo La Coruna, a newly promoted squad that was off to a decent start.
The match got off to a poor start for Real Madrid as Riki of Deportivo scored a goal in 16th minute to put Madrid down by one. But the Merengues were fortunate to regain momentum moments later when Angel Di Maria was fouled by Manuel Pablo. On the ensuing Penalty kick, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 4th goal of the season, his second on penalties.
Real Madrid 1-1 Dep. La Coruna by simaotvgolo12
And then the flood gates opened. Angel Di Maria added the first of two straight header goals off a Luka Modric loft in the 38th minute and Ronaldo scored in 44th minute to give Madrid a safe lead heading into the half.
Real Madrid 2-1 Dep. La Coruna by simaotvgolo12
Real Madrid 3-1 Dep. La Coruna by simaotvgolo12
Los Merengues picked up where they left off when Pepe added the third header goal in a row for Madrid. Ronaldo capped it off with his first hat trick of the season and his second penalty kick
goal of the day. With the 3 goals, Ronaldo ties rival Lionel Messi with 6 goals on the season.
Real Madrid 4-1 Dep. La Coruna by simaotvgolo12
Real Madrid 5-1 Dep. La Coruna by simaotvgolo12
Next week Messi and Ronaldo face off against each other for the first regular season Clasico match. The team faced off earlier in the year in the Spanish Super Cope when they split the two games, but Real Madrid won the cup by virtue of more Away goals.