La Liga wrap: Real hit seven past Malaga

Real Madrid took out their frustrations with a 7-0 thumping of 10-man Malaga in La Liga, while Racing Santander were held by Almeria.

Real, who fell 10 points behind league-leaders Barcelona following their 0-0 draw with Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, pounded lowly Malaga with a ferocious display on Thursday, led by Cristiano Ronaldo’s 26-minute hat-trick and Karim Benzema’s brace.

It took 27 minutes Benzema to open the scoring for Real, but once he did the floodgates opened, with the hosts piling on another six goals in the next 50 minutes to bring second-bottom Malaga’s four-match unbeaten run to a jarring halt.

Benzema leapt in mid-air to connect with Xabi Alonso’s free kick at the edge of the six-yard box just before the half hour mark, kicking off what would prove to be a dismal night for Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

Angel Di Maria made it 2-0 in the 35th minute on a wonderful counter-attack from Real, the Argentine international racing in alone to collect Marcelo’s through ball and side-foot wide of Caballero.

Di Maria returned the favour in first-half injury time, looping a clever pass over Malaga’s waiting defence and into the path of Marcelo for an easy finish.

Ronaldo was played in by Mesut Oezil in the 51st minute for his first goal, and Benzema added his second 11 minutes later with a powerful header after being picked out by Marcelo at the far post.

Malaga defender Manolo Gaspar was sent off for a second caution when he handled the ball in the area in the 67th minute, and Ronaldo fired a rocket from the penalty spot for a 6-0 lead.

The Portuguese ace completed the rout in the 77th minute with his hat-trick goal, side-footing Sergio Canales’ pass underneath Caballero before immediately signalling to the bench that he was ready for a well-earned rest.

He joins Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on top of the league scorers’ table with 27 goals for the season.

Elsewhere, Racing were unable to capitalise on a visit to bottom-placed Almeria, settling for a 1-1 draw after losing Brazilian defender Henrique to a straight red card in the 17th minute.

Racing fought on with 10 men and got just reward when Gonzalo Colsa got on the end of a set play in the 37th minute and hammered home a right-footed effort to give the visitors the lead.

Racing had an ideal chance to double their lead five minutes later, but Adrian Morales had his tame penalty kick saved by Almeria custodian Diego Alves which kept the bottom side in the contest at the break.

Almeria equalised through Albert Crusat’s left-foot strike from outside the penalty area, which Racing goalkeeper Tono got a hand on but could not keep out of his own net.