Sunday 21 September 2014 00:05, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 27th career hat-trick and Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez struck twice as Real Madrid hammered Deportivo La Coruna 8-2.
It was the first time Real have scored eight times away from home in La Liga, and they bounced back from two straight defeats with a dazzling display of attacking football.
Elsewhere champions Atletico Madrid were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Celta Vigo and Granada continued their fine start with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao to move up to third.
It took Real nearly half an hour to take the lead at the Riazor, and it was Ronaldo who did it with a header. James Rodriguez then scored the goal of the game with a stunning strike on 36.
Colombia’s World Cup hero picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and whipped a brilliant curling left-foot effort into the far corner past Depor goalkeeper German Lux.
Lux gifted Real a slapstick third just before the break when he became stranded outside his area and let in Ronaldo to score his second.
Haris Medunjanin pulled a goal back for Depor from the penalty spot in the 50th minute after the referee ruled Sergio Ramos had handled.
But Bale squeezed a low shot in off the far post on 66 and the Welshman scored his second on 74 when he ran on to a pass from substitute Isco and clipped the ball over Lux into the far corner.
Ronaldo completed his hat-trick four minutes later before Jose Verdu headed a second for Depor in the 84th minute to make it 2-6.
Hernandez, who has joined on loan from Manchester United, came off the bench and scored a quickfire double as the newly-promoted hosts fell apart in the final minutes.
The Mexican's first in the 88th minute was a powerful left-foot strike which flew into the top corner and his second was deflected into the net in the second minute of added time to complete the rout.
Atletico fell behind against Celta Vigo after 19 minutes when Pablo Hernandez stuck out his foot to divert a cross into the net from what looked like an impossible position.
Miranda swept the ball home at the near post to equalise and Atletico went ahead before half-time thanks to a towering header from defender Diego Godin.
Nolito converted a 53rd-minute penalty to bring Celta level and they resisted a spell of intense pressure from Atletico in the dying minutes to hang on for a point.
Jhon Cordoba scored Grenada's winner in Bilbao. The Colombian forward struck six minutes before half-time, and he and his team-mates then withstood a late wave of pressure to move on to eight points while also remaining unbeaten.
In the late game, a brilliant stoppage-time free-kick from Duda earned Malaga a 2-2 draw at Espanyol as they twice came from behind to snatch a point.
Duda curled a beautiful effort into the top corner from 25 yards, a matter of minutes after Christian Stuani's header looked to have won it for the hosts.
The late strike denied Espanyol a first La Liga win of the season and left them second bottom of the standings. Earlier Felipe Caicedo had opened the scoring for Espanyol, with Ignacio Camacho levelling shortly after the break.
