Ronaldo's hat trick helps Real blast Malaga
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cristiano Ronaldo notched a hat trick in the 0 at the Estadio La Rosaleda on Saturday to take over first place in La Liga.
Higuain, who had hat tricks in each of his last two La Liga games, scored his ninth goal of the season in the 11th minute and Ronaldo followed with goals in the 24th, 28th and 38th minute to increase his scoring total to 10.
Ronaldo is tied with Barcelona's Lionel Messi for the La Liga scoring lead and Real passed Barcelona in the table. Real Madrid leads La Liga with a one-point cushion over unbeaten Barca.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Malaga lost its second straight and third of the season, and is six points off the pace in sixth place.
Real established its dominance early against Malaga, which added a ton of good players this offseason, when Higuain took a pass from Angel Di Maria and drove a shot past Ruben just over 10 minutes into the match.
Ronaldo took over with all three goals in a 14-minute span, hitting the lower- right corner off another assist from Di Maria in the 24th, the bottom left off a pass from Xabi Alonso in the 28th, and then the bottom left again off a pass from Sergio Ramos in the 38th.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Real ran its unbeaten streak to five, and has won its last four matches.
Barcelona 0, Sevilla 0
Barcelona, Spain - Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas made nine saves, including a penalty-kick stop against Lionel Messi in stoppage time, and nine-man Sevilla tied Barcelona at the Camp Nou, 0-0, on Saturday in La Liga.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Varas denied Barca throughout the match, but made his biggest save deep in the added time following a disputed penalty earned by Andres Iniesta. A scum after the call included Frederic Kanoute apparently punching Cesc Fabregas.
Kanoute received a yellow card, his second of the match, to earn an ejection, but after the delay, Varas tracked Messi's penalty toward the right post and a diving save pushed the world player of the year's shot away from the goal.
Fernando Navarro earned his spot in the showers seconds later for a foul that again infuriated Sevilla players, but Messi was not able to redeem himself off a free kick from just outside the edge of the area as Sevilla held on.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both teams remained unbeaten, but Barca lost the top spot in La Liga to rivals Real Madrid. Barca has five wins and three draws, while Sevilla has four wins and four draws.
Sporting Gijon 2, Granada 0
Gijon, Spain - David Barral and Andre Castro scored in the first half to lift Sporting Gijon to its first win of the season, 2-0 over promoted Granada in La Liga on Saturday at the El Molinon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gijon had lost six of its first seven matches with a draw in the other, but an early goal from Barral was followed by Castro's goal just before half, and the club held on to snap its seven-game winless skid.
Granada, which has just one win, is winless in five matches.
Espanyol 1, Racing 0
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Santander, Spain - Sergio Garcia scored early in the second half and Espanyol won for the first time in its last five games, 1-0 at the Estadio El Sardinero on Saturday to leave Racing as the lone winless club in La Liga.
Espanyol is just seven points off the pace of leader Real Madrid, while Racing is 15 points back with just four points from four draws.