On Sunday evening, Cristiano Ronaldo pursued his hot form for Real Madrid with good runs and above all, an excellent free-kick that helped Los Blancos defeat Valladolid 4-1.

This victory ultimately saw Real Madrid return to the top of La Liga table after Barcelona had opened a three-point gap following their 3-0 victory against Valencia.

The match started with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain hugging each other.

This gesture was a manner for the pair to send out a strong message of peace in their relationship which the media had portrayed as ‘ruptured’ following Real Madrid’s UEFA Champions League exit last Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo was Real Madrid’s most dangerous man inside the first 20 minutes of the game.

On 27 minutes, CR9 had the opportunity to put Real Madrid in front through a 20-yard free-kick. He took his cool before striking the ball with so much power that it flew into the top right corner of the net.

Higuain doubled Real Madrid’s tally a minute before half time. In the second period, the Argentine got a second one. He finished off Cristiano Ronaldo’s excellent pass from a header.

Valladolid then capitalized on a defensive mistake to pull a goal back but they never managed to crack down the visitors’ dominance.

Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in Real Madrid’s last goal which was scored by hat-trick hero Gonzalo Higuain.

Ronaldo shot from a corner was intended to trick Valladolid’s keeper and cross the goal line; instead, it was parried away but only as far as Gonzalo Higuain who just had to tap the ball home.

With his free-kick against Valladolid, Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 7 goals in his last 7 appearances for Real Madrid in all competitions. He is also 7 goals behind La Liga’s leading goal scorer Lionel Messi with 15 goals compared to Messi’s 22.

Angela Asante, Footballfantalk.com