Leader Real Madrid stretched its advantage over chasing Barcelona to seven points when Cristiano Ronaldo set a new La Liga scoring record of 41 goals in a 3-1 comeback victory at home to lowly Sporting Gijon Saturday. Ronaldo's 74th-minute header, which fired Real ahead after a Miguel De Las Cuevas penalty for Gijon and Gonzalo Higuain's equalizer before halftime, broke his own record set last season and put him two ahead of Barca forward Lionel Messi. Champion Barca, which hosts Real at the Nou Camp in a week's time for the second ‘Clasico' of the campaign, can trim the gap back to four points with a win at fifth-placed Levante. An uninspired Real, with Karim Benzema and Angel Di Maria on the bench and Xabi Alonso suspended, fell behind in the 30th minute when Sergio Ramos handled in the penalty area and De Las Cuevas comfortably beat Iker Casillas from the spot. Argentina forward Higuain equalized seven minutes later when he rose unmarked to nod a Ramos cross past Juan Pablo before Ronaldo settled the home sides nerves and Benzema added a third from Mesut Ozil's assist eight minutes from time. Gijon defender Roberto Canella earned a second yellow card and was sent off in the 79th minute as the Asturian club's hopes of avoiding relegation were dealt a further blow. It lies 19th on 28 points, three ahead of bottom side Racing Santander and level with Real Zaragoza. Real has 85 points from 33 matches, with Barca on 78. Dortmund well set Defending champion Borussia Dortmund put one hand on the German league title Saturday as its 2-1 win at Schalke left them eight points clear at the top of the table with three games left. With second-placed Bayern Munich being held to a goalless draw at home to Mainz Saturday night, Bayern now has only a mathematical chance of denying Dortmund a second consecutive title. Bayern hosts Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, first-leg, Tuesday and coach Jupp Heynckes paid the price for resting several stars as captain Philipp Lahm, wing Franck Ribery and striker Mario Gomez all started on the bench. Kaiserslautern was beaten 2-0 at home by Nuremberg. Ten-man Hertha Berlin remains second from bottom despite picking up a point in a dramatic 3-3 draw at Bayer Leverkusen. Hibs in Scottish final A last-gasp strike from Leigh Griffiths against Aberdeen helped Hibernian reach its first Scottish Cup final since 2001, setting up a clash with either league champion Celtic or Edinburgh rival Hearts.
