Ronaldo hat-trick as Real goes 10 points clear

MADRID - Cristiano Ronaldo hit his sixth hat-trick of the season as Real Madrid took a huge step towards winning La Liga on Sunday, coming from behind to beat Levante 4-2 and open a 10-point lead over Barcelona.

After Gustavo Cabral gave Levante a surprise early lead, Ronaldo got his first from the penalty spot following a handball by Vicente Iborra, who was also dismissed for his second yellow card.

Ronaldo headed home a Gonzalo Higuain cross after 49 minutes and then completed his hat-trick with a wonderful 30-yard strike which flew into the roof of the net.

An Arouna Kone header briefly gave a glimmer of hope for Levante but Karim Benzema slotted in a fourth for Real after 65 minutes.

While Barcelona, beaten 3-2 by Osasuna on Saturday, has stuttered on its travels, Real has been in ominous form, winning 19 of 22 games and scoring 75 goals which has put it on course for its first league title since 2008.

Levante is the only team along with Barcelona to have beaten Real this season and when Cabral headed home a freekick, which flicked off Sergio Ramos, after just four minutes, Real must have feared another setback.

But Ronaldo's penalty, a minute before the break, helped settle the nerves.

"The mathematics tell us that to consider this league won, it's necessary to get another 39 points, that's 13 wins," said Mourinho.

"The road is long, but a 10-point lead has given us margin for error."

Despite its 10-point deficit, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol says the champion will not throw in the towel.

"The league is not lost but it is going to be complicated. This team always fights to the end and what we have to do is try and win every week. We have to concentrate on ourselves and see where we get," he said.

Valencia moved eight points clear of the chasing pack in third place with an emphatic 4-0 victory over relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon which brought to an end a run of five league games without a win.

Second-from-bottom Sporting started solidly under coach Inaki Tejada in his second game in charge, but after a cagey opening spell, Valencia had the first chance with Aritz Aduriz firing wide.

Then Sofiane Feghouli gave it the opener after 33 minutes with a fine finish from a Jeremy Mathieu cross.

Sporting was unable to bounce back and Aduriz missed another excellent opening before the break while, after the restart, Valencia dominated the match as the visitor's rearguard was unable to cope.

A deflected Feghouli shot off Alberto Botia gave Valencia a two-goal cushion and then, in injury time, substitute Jonas Goncalves bagged a double to add gloss to the win.

The teams are now bunching up below Valencia with Espanyol still level with Levante on 32 points after losing 2-0 at home to Zaragoza.

Agence France-Presse