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La Liga: Gareth Bale scores his first hat-trick for Real Madrid
Gareth Bale struck his first Real Madrid hat-trick and set up another goal in a thumping 4-0 La Liga victory over Real Valladolid on Saturday.
With the injured Cristiano Ronaldo still absent, the Welshman knocked home two rebounds and slid in the third for a perfect treble at the Bernabeu having also set up their second goal with a cross for Karim Benzema to head home.
It was only the second hat-trick ever in La Liga by a British player, with Gary Lineker scoring three for Barcelona in 1987.
Perfect Bale
Real managed a 4-1 Champions League win over Galatasaray in midweek without hamstring victim Ronaldo and his replacement Angel Di Maria, who scored in an impressive second half performance, continued that good form against Valladolid.
The Argentine hit the bar with an excellent volley from distance after five minutes and frequently delivered dangerous crosses from the left.
Valladolid played three in midfield with the inclusion of Fausto Rossi as they looked to provide extra cover for the backline but they could do little to stop the dominant Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric.
Real peppered the goal early on without luck, Di Maria having several shots saved by Diego Marino while Benzema and Sergio Ramos missing opportunities.
They eventually turned their dominance into goals after 33 minutes when Marino could only parry a Di Maria shot into the path of Bale, who headed home.
Real struck again within three minutes when Bale's cross found Benzema, who nodded in.
'His period of adaption is now over'
Bale grabbed his second goal just after the hour when Carlos Pena's clearance fell to him, and Real's world record signing scored his third late on, finishing off a Marcelo cross.
"His period of adaption is now over. He now is confident and doing well," Real coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
"We are on a good run and playing with personality and consistency. I don't know whether it was our best game because recently we have been playing very well."
Real are third and three points behind leaders Barcelona, who visit Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, and second placed Atletico Madrid.
Atletico have 40 points from 15 games after a 2-0 victory over Elche with Diego Costa returning from injury to continue his fine scoring run.
Koke netted from close range after 63 minutes against a battling Elche and Costa struck 11 minutes later.
"We need to continue on the same lines and be realistic," coach Diego Simeone told a news conference. "It is a good moment for the fans but we still need to go match by match," he added, with Atletico having only dropped five points so far.
"It is an important win against a tough rival where we started well but later Elche caused two or three moments of danger. We spoke at halftime about using the wings more and it helped."
Earlier, Celta Vigo eased their relegation fears with a first home win of the season as they came from behind to beat Almeria 3-1. Fabian Orellana, Borja Oubina and Charles Dias scored for Celta after Suso put the visitors ahead.
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