Ronaldo equals La Liga hat-trick record

Real Madrid moved into La Liga's top four as Cristiano Ronaldo's third hat trick in four league games steered them to a 5-0 thrashing of struggling Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu. It marked another milestone for the forward - it was his 22nd La Liga treble, equalling the all-time record for the division currently held by Alfredo di Stefano and Telmo Zarra. It seems impossible that he will not own the record outright on his own sooner rather than later. Ronaldo, who had been an injury doubt prior to the match, opened the scoring with a header on two minutes before Karim Benzema's 41st-minute nodded effort made it 2-0. The Portugal forward then slotted in a cross from Gareth Bale - who had also teed up his first of the evening - in the 55th minute, and subsequently set up a simple Benzema finish in the 69th.