Atletico Madrid 0-3 Real Madrid: Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick secures derby victory By Rory O'Callaghan
Last Updated: 19/11/16 10:24pm
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Real thrashed cross-city rivals Atletico 3-0 in the final ever Madrid derby at the Vicente Calderon. Ronaldo opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick midway through the first half on Saturday evening before doubling the away side's advantage from the penalty spot with 20 minutes remaining. He completed his hat-trick just six minutes later - calmly slotting home from close range to move Real four points clear at the top of the La Liga table. Real have traditionally started derby matches in slow fashion and, true to form, it was Atleti who had the better of the opening exchanges - Yannick Carrasco firing a dangerous ball across goal just minutes into the match.
Madrid hit back immediately and almost took the lead when Ronaldo saw a header superbly saved on the line by Jan Oblak.
Atletico, normally so solid at the back, almost gifted the visitors a goal minutes later when Diego Godin was caught in possession trying to play out from defence.
The ball fell to Gareth Bale, who in turn set up Luka Modric to fire straight at Oblak, who was becoming increasingly busy as the half wore on.
It was a matter of when, not if, Madrid would open the scoring and the first goal arrived in familiar circumstances - Ronaldo firing in from 30 yards out with the aid of a deflection from a weak Atletico wall.
The 31-year-old, who recently signed a new five-year contract at the Bernabeu, almost grabbed a second straight after but fired his shot straight at Oblak when well placed in the area.
Diego Simeone will have been happy to get his side in at the break trailing by just the one goal and saw an immediate response after the interval when Carrasco curled a shot just over the bar just minutes after the restart.
The unusually quiet Antoine Griezmann then fired a shot across the face of goal as the home side searched for an equaliser.
However, with Atletico seemingly in the ascendancy, Real doubled their advantage firmly against the run of play.
Raphael Varane's headed clearance was not dealt with at the back by Stefan Savic, who brought down Ronaldo in his attempts to win the ball back.
The Portuguese forward calmly converted the resulting penalty to double his side's advantage.
Atletico, pushing for a way back into the match, were promptly hit on the counter attack by Gareth Bale, who squared the ball to Ronaldo, who made no mistake from close range
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