Marco Asensio lit up Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Las Palmas this evening with a La Liga goal-of-the-season contender at the Santiago Bernabeu.
A header from Casemiro broke the deadlock on 41 minutes and Asensio ensured Real would return to winning ways with an unstoppable second after the break.
Isco capped off the win late on as Los Blancos leapfrogged Atletico Madrid into third in the table on goal difference.
Madrid welcomed the struggling Gran Canarians on the back of successive defeats to promoted Girona, and in the Champions League to Tottenham Hotspur.
Karim Benzema squandered an early opportunity to ease the scrutiny on him and manager Zinedine Zidane when his hesitance allowed Raul Lizoain to save one-on-one.
Las Palmas had a chance of their own on 12 minutes when Vitolo's first touch took him away from Sergio Ramos and set up a shot which Kiko Casilla did well to save.
Madrid slowly upped the ante over the course of the first half and went close when Cristiano Ronaldo curled against the post with his left foot, and again when he headed straight at Raul from Marcelo's cross.
The hosts found a breakthrough before half time as Casemiro perfectly directed his header into the bottom corner, after an Asensio corner had taken a flick-on at the near post.
Asensio turned from provider to scorer on 56 minutes, unleashing a thunderous left-footed volley into the top corner from 30 yards out, as he met a punched clearance from Raul with the sweetest of strikes.
Ronaldo was desperate to to get his own name on the scoresheet, for only the second time in La Liga this season, and hit the woodwork again with a dipping shot after drifting in from the right past two defenders.
In the end, the Portuguese had to settle for providing an inch-perfect assist for Isco's third, crossing right into the path of the Spanish playmaker on the move for him to apply a confident side-footed finish.
Goalkeeper Raul was at full stretch to keep the damage down in the final stages, tipping a Ramos header onto the crossbar, but Pako Ayestaran's side have now lost seven league games in a row.
Las Palmas are 19th in the La Liga table, which does not look too much better from a Madrid perspective, with Barcelona eight points clear heading into the international break despite this comfortable victory.
Joe Fish
