MADRID — Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the second half to give Real Madrid a hard-fought 2-1 away win at Elche in the Spanish league Wednesday. In a lackluster, strategic match, Elche defender Eduardo Albacar struck a free kick that David Lomban back-headed toward goal, forcing an athletic save from goalkeeper Diego Lopez in the 10th minute. Ronaldo scored from a direct free kick in the 50th minute which bounced just in front of goalkeeper Manuel Herrera, who got a touch but was unable to deflect the ball. Ghanaian striker Richmond Boakye who is on loan to Elche from Juventus, headed a perfectly-aimed shot into goal from an Albacar cross in injury time. Madrid was then awarded a much-argued penalty one minute later as defender Pepe wrestled with Elche midfielder Carlos Sanchez in the penalty area during a free kick. Ronaldo stepped up to convert the shot, six minutes into injury time. Elsewhere, two goals each by Ivan Rakitic and Carlos Bacca gave Sevilla a 4-1 win over nine-man Rayo Vallecano. Adrian Gonzalez pulled one back for Rayo in the 55th. Rayo lost defender Alejandro Galvez in the 65th minute on a second yellow card offense and forward Jonathan Viera in the 81st on a straight red card. An injury time goal by Brazil midfielder Jonas gave Valencia a 1-0 win over Granada. Barcelona leads the standings with Atletico Madrid second-place, also on 18 points after six matches, but on a worse goal differential. Real Madrid is third on 16 with Valencia seventh on nine, while Granada is 14th on five, Elche is 18th on three and Rayo is bottom, also on three. Bayern eases past Hannover Title holder Bayern Munich got two goals from Thomas Mueller to cruise past Hannover 4-1 in the second round of the German Cup Wednesday. But last season's runner-up, Stuttgart, crashed out in Freiburg. Matthias Ginter and Mike Hanke scored in the second half for Freiburg, while Vedad Ibisevic cut the deficit late in the match. Bayern beat Hannover in the Bundesliga 2-0 less than two weeks ago and dominated the cup match as well. Mueller opened the scoring in the 17th, Claudio Pizarro doubled the lead in the 27th, before Didier Ya Konan pulled one back for Hannover. But second-half goals from Mueller and substitute Franck Ribery secured Bayern's victory. Schalke advanced by winning 3-1 at third-division Darmstadt, Hertha Berlin went out against second-division Kaiserslautern 3-1 and Eintracht Frankfurt beat second-tier Bochum 2-0 on goals from Takashi Inui and Stefan Aigner. Over two days, 10 Bundesliga, five second-tier and one third-division tier club, Saarbruecken, advanced to the third round. Saarbrucken, which had knocked out Werder Bremen in the first round, this time eliminated second-tier Paderborn 2-1. — Agencies
