Ronaldo scores 3 as Real Madrid drubs Malaga 4-0

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick in 15 first-half minutes as Real Madrid thrashed Malaga 4-0 in the Spanish league on Saturday

Angel Di Maria assisted fellow Argentina international Gonzalo Higuain and Ronaldo to get Madrid rolling, and the Portugal forward added two more to decide the game before halftime at La Rosaleda stadium.
The win put Madrid provisionally two points ahead of Barcelona atop the standings before the defending champion's late game against the undefeated Sevilla.
Levante travels to Villarreal on Sunday looking to extend its best ever start with a sixth consecutive win that would keep it a point ahead of Madrid.
“We played a fantastic first half,” said Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa, whose team has outscored its opponents 25-3 in six straight wins in all competitions. “In the second half we came out a little more conservative, but we have to look to attack the adversary. It's the only way we know how to play.”
It was big-spending Malaga's first home loss and second in a row overall this season.
Elsewhere, Sporting Gijon beat Granada 2-0 for its first win of the season, while Sergio Garcia's second-half goal dropped the winless Racing Santander into last place as Espanyol won 1-0 for its second straight away victory.
Expectations were high in Malaga after Qatari owner Sheik Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani spent ?60 million to overhaul the squad this summer, but Madrid easily showed the Costa del Sol side is still far from challenging the league's traditional powerhouse.
In a mild surprise, coach Manuel Pellegrini tweaked Malaga's starting lineup to leave Ruud Van Nistelrooy on the bench in favor of 22-year-old Venezuela striker Jose Rondon, the team's top scorer from last season.
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho also continued to alternate strikers, with Higuain returning to the starting 11 as Karim Benzema began on the bench despite his strong performance in a 4-0 win over Lyon midweek in the Champions League.
Higuain soon proved his coach's choice was the right one when he reached Di Maria's pass in the 11th, rounded goalkeeper Ruben Martinez with one touch, and rolled home the visitors' opener for his ninth goal of the season.
Madrid camped in Malaga's half from the start and had little trouble snuffing out any attempts at counterattacking.
Ronaldo quickly decided the encounter to emphatically break his three-game scoring drought.
Last season's top scorer tapped in a beautiful curling cross from Di Maria in the 22nd, and six minutes later he took advantage of the shell-shocked Malaga when he rifled in a right footer from the edge of the area.
Ronaldo capped his treble in the 38th with an acrobatic move to redirect a headed pass by Sergio Ramos with the bottom of his right boot, drawing level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi as the league's top scorers with 10 goals apiece.
Malaga improved after halftime, with Joaquin Sanchez and substitute Seba Fernandez both hitting the crossbar in search of a consolation goal.
Also on Sunday, it's: Real Betis vs. Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad vs. Getafe, Atletico Madrid vs. Mallorca, Osasuna vs. Zaragoza, and Valencia vs. Athletic Bilbao.