Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was uncharacteristically inaccurate in front of goal against Real Betis but finally got his name on the scoresheet with the last in his side’s 6-1 win. Photograph: Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty Images
Real Madrid bounced back from a four-game winless streak in emphatic fashion by hammering Real Betis 6-1 away from home to remain second in La Liga.
Real travelled to Betis without key midfielders Luka Modric and Casemiro and captain Sergio Ramos through injury and without a win in four games in all competitions. Raphael Varane swiftly eased the pressure on under-fire coach Zinedine Zidane by heading home Toni Kroos’s floated free kick in the fourth minute.
Karim Benzema rolled home another pass by Kroos in the 31st to put Real further at ease and they went into the half-time break four goals up after a strike from returning fullback Marcelo and a brilliant breakaway finished off by Isco.
The Spain international curled in a brilliant strike in the 62nd and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo fittingly rounded off a statement of intent from the European champions by powering home in the 78th. Álvaro Cejudo had scored Betis’s goal in the 55th minute.
