Vigo, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Javier Hernandez scored on either side of the intermission on Sunday to lead Real Madrid to a 4-2 win over Celta Vigo at the Estadio Municipal de Balaidos.
After sneaking past local rivals Atletico Madrid, 1-0, on aggregate in midweek to advance to the semifinals of the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti's men returned to domestic action hoping to avoid a let down.
It looked as if Real Madrid might not be up for the fight on Sunday as Celta Vigo opened the scoring after nine minutes through Nolito, but Los Blancos quickly responded with an equalizer in the 16th minute through former Bayern Munich man Toni Kroos.
Hernandez, the former Manchester United man, gave the visitors the lead in the 24th minute, but Celta answered with an equalizer of their own in the 28th minute through Santi Mina to make it 2-2.
Colombian international James Rodriguez netted in the 43rd minute to give Real a 3-2 lead at the break and Hernandez completed his double in the 69th minute to hand all three points to Real Madrid, keeping the club within two points of leaders Barcelona.
Also in La Liga on Sunday, Nordin Amrabat and Oriol Riera swapped goals as Malaga and Deportivo played to a 1-1 draw at the Estadio La Rosaleda, while Thievy Bifouma and Verza scored to lead Almeria to a 2-0 win over Eibar.
Europa League semifinalists Sevilla returned to domestic action with a comfortable 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan thanks to goals from Vicente Iborra and Daniel Carrico.
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