La Liga: Bale, Messi grab hat tricks in wins
Gareth Bale’s hat trick gave Zinedine Zidane a victory in his first game as Real Madrid manager, a 5-0 romp over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Karim Benzema stayed onside to put Real ahead on 15 minutes with a back-heeled shot.
Bale doubled Real’s advantage eight minutes later by heading home Dani Carvajal’s marvelous cross from the endline.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post with a shot before half-time, but four minutes after the break he turned provider, finding Bale for the Welshman’s second on the night.
And Ronaldo found Bale again for Real’s fourth goal, this time from a corner in the 63rd minute.
Benzema scored his second goal by cleaning up a loose ball in the box with the final kick of the game.
Earlier on Saturday, Lionel Messi warmed up for Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony by scoring his first hat-trick in 10 months as Barcelona eased to a 4-0 win over Granada to return to the top of the Primera Division.
The Argentine netted twice in the opening quarter of an hour and completed his treble after the break, pouncing after Neymar had hit the post, but the Brazilian was able to get on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
Luis Enrique’s side go one point ahead of Atletico Madrid at the league’s summit, though the Rojiblancos can leap above them again when they face Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Kevin Gameiro scored twice as Sevilla beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 to move into the top six of the Primera Division for the first time this season.
The Frenchman put the hosts in front midway through the first half by providing a classy finish to a quick team break and in the second half converted a controversial penalty to seal an eighth consecutive home victory in the league for Unai Emery’s side.
Alvaro Vazquez scored the only goal as Getafe beat Real Betis 1-0 to pile more pressure on Pepe Mel.
The Catalan striker’s second-half goal condemned Betis boss Mel to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions and his side have now gone eight games without a win.
Brilliant second-half goals from substitute Deyverson and Jose Morales earned bottom side Levante a crucial 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in their relegation battle.
The hosts burst into life in the second half and broke the deadlock with a fine Deyverson volley after 72 minutes. Morales doubled the lead with a superb solo effort nine minutes later and Levante survived a nervy finish to claim three important points after Pablo Hernandez pulled one back.
The result was not enough to lift Levante off the foot of the table but they moved within one point of Rayo, who missed a chance to climb out of the bottom three.
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