Real Madrid hammer Eibar

Real Madrid eased the pain of their shock defeat at Wolfsburg as Cristiano Ronaldo scored and provided two assists in a resounding 4-0 win over Eibar.

James Rodriguez opened the scoring from a free-kick after just four minutes and Madrid got all four goals before the break. Lucas Vazquez and Jese added to the scoring with the help of passes from Ronaldo, who grabbed Madrid’s third of the afternoon to move on to 30 Primera Division goals for the season.

Madrid kept up the pressure on title rivals Atletico Madrid and Barcelona thanks to a sixth consecutive league win, while Eibar stretched their winless run to eight games, although the Basques remain in mid-table.

As he had hinted the day before,
Zidane rotated his team after the shock 2-0 defeat at Wolfsburg in preparation for the second leg, and only Ronaldo, Casemiro and Pepe keeping their places.

The changes gave Madrid a fresher look and their opening goal came from the energy of one of the eager rare starters.

Jese raced towards the box early on and was brought down just before entering it by Dani Garcia, who was shown a yellow card. James sent the free-kick curling into the far bottom corner, with goalkeeper Asier Riesgo’s view blocked by Pepe.

Despite Madrid getting behind their defence with ease, Eibar persisted with their high defensive line and conceded again when Ronaldo raced down the left and laid on a pass for Vazquez to shoot into an empty net.

Madrid struck again two minutes later using the same formula, Jese hurtling down the right and squaring to Ronaldo, who took a couple of touches before lifting the ball high into the net.

Ronaldo then returned the favour, allowing the 23-year-old to tap in from close range and score his fifth league goal of the season, putting Madrid four up on 39 minutes.

Even though it was a comfortable afternoon for Madrid on the pitch, the home fans vented their anger at Danilo when he was brought on in the second half by greeting the Brazilian right back with a cacophony of boos following his much-criticised performance against Wolfsburg.

He was the subject of further insults when he missed the target from the edge of the area, while Ronaldo missed two further chances to increase Madrid’s winning margin.