Real Madrid had the chance to keep up the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga table when they faced Tenerife on Saturday evening.

In another enjoyable performance by Los Blancos, Cristiano Ronaldo and his team mates emerged 5-1 winners.

Here is how it all happened:

Tenerife 1-5 Real Madrid: First Half (Higuain at the double)

After arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu last summer, striker Karim Benzema was expected to cement his place in Manuel Pellegrini’s first XI. However, Gonzalo Higuain’s impressive goal scoring form this season has been mesmerizing fans of the Spanish giants and also giving him credits to play more often for the team.

On Saturday night, the Argentine forward did it again. He scored a brace in the first half of the match. Firstly, Higuain beat the offside trap to score and eventually finish off Marcelo’s tremendous work in midfield.

Three minutes before half time, Gonzalo Higuain was on target again for Los Blancos. The number 20 slaughtered the ball home from 20 yards out.

At half time, Real Madrid were very much in the driving seat and it looked like the three points were already theirs.

Tenerife 1-5 Real Madrid: Second Half (More goals seal Madrid’s victory)

From Reuters.com Images

As soon as the second period kicked off, Tenerife got back into the game through Ayoze’s controversial header. It appeared as if Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas had the ball in his hands when the striker knocked it.

After protesting in vain to the referee about the nature of Tenerife’s goal, the visitors were not ready to give in to any kind of shock.
Kaka restored Real Madrid’s lead on 48 minutes before Cristiano Ronaldo put it beyond Tenerife’s reach on 80 minutes.

The Portugal captain scored from the penalty spot to clinch a tally of four goals in his last three La Liga appearances since returning from suspension.

Now that wasn’t all. Skipper Raul also scored to round up Real Madrid’s 5-1 emphatic victory over Tenerife. It was the captain’s 227th goal for Los Blancos in La Liga; he subsequently equaled the record of the legendary Di Stefano.

Real Madrid temporarily topped the standings with this win over Tenerife. Barcelona then reclaimed the top spot in La Liga after grabbing a late victory against Malaga on Saturday as well.

Cristiano Ronaldo will then join his national team mates to prepare ahead of Portugal’s friendly against China which will come on March 3rd.

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Angela Asante, Footballfantalk.com