Real Madrid rolls over Betis

Seville, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Real Madrid joined Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga on Saturday after rolling to a comfortable 5-0 win at last-place Real Betis.

Five different players scored on Saturday for Madrid as the club joins both Barcelona and Atletico on 50 points, although both sides will be in action on Sunday with a chance to restore their lead.

With only two wins from its first 19 games, Betis entered the contest seven points from safety and found itself behind after 10 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted his league-leading 21st goal after taking a short pass from Angel Di Maria and he scored one of his best this season by smashing the ball into the top corner of the net from 30 yards.

Ronaldo drew a foul near the Betis penalty area in the 25th minute, and Gareth Bale stepped up to score on the resulting free kick with a dipping shot that saw Betis goalkeeper Stephan Andersen hardly move.

Just before halftime Madrid went ahead 3-0 with Luka Modric playing provider by dancing into the box and laying a ball off for Karim Benzema to fire past Andersen.

There was no way back into the match for Betis and the visitors added two more goals after the break with Di Maria scoring from long range before substitute Alvaro Morata found the net in stoppage time after a cross from Marcelo.

Elche collected an important 2-0 home win against Rayo Vallecano to move five points clear of the relegation zone, while Rayo is 19th and three points from safety.

Rayo was reduced to 10 men after just 18 minutes when Raul Baena was sent off for a foul inside the penalty area, allowing Edu Albacar to score from the spot. Javier Marquez added a second goal in the 79th for Elche to help the club jump to 15th in the league table.

Espanyol moved into the top half of La Liga after a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo that saw Sergio Garcia score the lone goal in the 87th minute, while Granada and Osasuna played to a 0-0 draw.