Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga pacesetters Barcelona and Atletico Madrid when Gareth Bale helped himself to his first four-goal haul in a 10-2 demolition of nine-man Rayo Vallecano Sunday. Real bounced back in some style from last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Villarreal, with Karim Benzema netting a hat trick and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice, but did not initially have it all their own way at the Bernabeu. It was again whistled by some disgruntled home fans after it fell 2-1 behind following a Danilo effort that put it 1-0 ahead in the third minute. However, once Rayo lost Tito to a straight red card for a wild tackle on Toni Kroos in the 14th minute and Jose Raul Baena to a second booking 15 minutes later Real quickly restored its lead and went in 4-2 ahead at halftime. Bale had leveled at 2-2 with a header in the 25th minute, Ronaldo struck from the spot five minutes later after Baena had earned a second yellow card and conceded a penalty for a foul on Sergio Ramos and Bale sped clear and drove the ball low into the corner four minutes before the break. With two men fewer, Rayo had little chance against waves of Real attacks and Benzema made it 5-2 three minutes into the second half before Ronaldo headed in a James Rodriguez cross in the 53rd. The Portugal forward set up Bale for his hat trick in the 61st and the Wales international completed his first four-goal haul with a 70th-minute tap-in to double his La Liga goals tally for the season to eight. Benzema made it 9-2 in the 80th minute and Real hit double figures when the France international scored his third in the final minute. It was the third time Real has scored 10 goals in a La Liga game and the first since it beat Elche 11-2 in 1960. Real has 33 points from 16 matches in third place, with champion Barca and Atletico each on 35. Barca beat River Plate 3-0 to win the Club World Cup earlier Sunday and will play its game in hand at Sporting Gijon in mid February. — AP
