Real Madrid have closed the gap on top-of-the-table Atletico Madrid to three points courtesy of a 4-0 victory over Osasuna at the Bernabeu in La Liga.
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The hosts were up and running with under six minutes played courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo, who found the back of the net in spectacular style with his strike from outside the box.
Osasuna almost managed to level the contest shortly after when Alvaro Cejudo delivered a dangerous cross towards Oriol Riera inside the Madrid box, only for Raphael Varane to cut it out for a corner.
Following his earlier goal, Ronaldo turned provider on 23 minutes when he crossed for Sergio Ramos, but the defender could not find the target with his resulting header.
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Ronaldo was involved again shortly before the interval as Los Blancos looked to double their lead, picking out Ramos once more inside the area, but again the Spaniard was unable to find the target.
Luka Modric and Alvaro Morata also came close to adding goal number two for Carlo Ancelotti's side, but they were unable to find a way past Andres in the Osasuna goal.
The visiting side sent out a strong warning to Madrid five minutes after the restart when Emiliano Armenteros almost levelled the match, with the forward clipping his volley just wide of the post following a near-post cross from Patxi Punal.
Madrid did manage to assert their authority on the contest, however, adding an all-important second on 53 minutes thanks to Ronaldo's second long-range strike into the top corner of the net.
Goal number three soon followed from the head of Ramos, who finally managed to find a way through following his two earlier chances. The centre-back firmly connected with Angel di Maria's cross into the box to give Real some breathing space.
Substitute Daniel Carvajal wrapped up proceedings with six minutes remaining when he looped a header over Andres following a lofted pass from Isco to make it 4-0.
Daniel Lewis
