Cristiano Ronaldo registered twice and Emmanuel Adebayor notched his first Liga goal as Real Madrid CF defeated Real Sociedad de Fútbol 4-1 to stay within seven points of leaders FC Barcelona.

Having watched the pacesetters set a new Spanish top-flight record of 16 consecutive victories on Saturday, Madrid were determined to make a rapid start at the Santiago Bernabéu. Kaká gave them precisely that after eight minutes, before Ronaldo doubled their lead from outside the area (21) and headed in a third shortly before half-time. An Álvaro Arbeloa own goal (72) gave the visitors a glimmer of hope, only for on-loan striker Adebayor to find the net a minute from time.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Aritz Aduriz (43) and Tino Costa (53) found the target as fourth-placed Valencia CF defeated Hércules CF 2-0 to haul themselves within a point of Villarreal CF, while Sevilla FC moved up to seventh following a goalless draw at home against bottom side Málaga CF.

Results

Standings

Photo gallery