Espanyol vs. Real Madrid: Score and Reaction from 2015 La Liga Match

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his goal drought in spectacular fashion on Saturday, as he scored five goals to become Real Madrid's all-time leading La Liga goalscorer in a dominant 6-0 win against Espanyol.

The Portuguese superstar netted three in the first 20 minutes before Karim Benzema added a fourth shortly after, and he grabbed his record-breaking 229th and 230th league goals for the club in the second half, overtaking Raul's tally of 228.

Los Blancos were rampant from start to finish, and after having failed to score in their opening match, Real have now scored 11 in their last two games.

Casemiro started in place of Toni Kroos in Madrid's midfield, while Espanyol boldly started with two strikers in Felipe Caicedo and Gerard Moreno.

Real roared out of the traps, and Ronaldo had his first just seven minutes into the game, latching onto a delightful aerial through ball from Luka Modric before coolly slotting the ball inside the far post after cutting in from the left.

Espanyol then gifted Madrid a penalty, as Alvaro Gonzalez felled Gareth Bale in the area, and Ronaldo duly grabbed his brace by tucking the ball into the bottom right corner from the spot.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Three minutes later, the 30-year-old had his hat-trick after Bale drifted out to the left and delivered a marvellous cross for Ronaldo to volley home from close range—his 32nd for Los Blancos. 

The Welshman was instrumental in Madrid's fourth as he returned to his starting No. 10 position, feeding Ronaldo, who in turn assisted Benzema, per football journalist Dermot Corrigan:

Real Madrid TV's Phil Kitromilides shared his reaction at half-time, tongue firmly in cheek:

Espanyol struggled to create in the face of such overwhelming superiority, and the scoreline got even more humiliating for the Blanquiazules just after the hour mark when Ronaldo got his record-breaker following a rare foray forward from the home side.

Bale pounced on a cleared Espanyol corner and broke with pace as he exchanged passes with Isco before squaring for the Ballon d'Or winner to tap home with ease. The Guardian's Sid Lowe succinctly summarised his achievement:

Keylor Navas showed his worth to Los Blancos when he made an outstanding save to deny Moreno's close-range header, while Salva Sevilla will want to forget his shocking miss, as he knocked the rebound wide from three yards.

Bale was once again involved as Ronaldo grabbed his fifth, this time drifting over to the right-wing before passing to Lucas Vazquez, who dribbled into the box with alarming ease and laid it off to the superstar to finish.

After a frustrating opening game, the Madridistas will no doubt be delighted by Real's astounding fluency and rhythm in the final third.

Bale was majestic in midfield, proving effective centrally and on either flank as he floated between the positions marvellously, while Ronaldo was back to his best after struggling to make an impact in the first two matches.

Madrid welcome Granada to the Bernabeu in their next match and can continue to lay down the gauntlet for Barcelona with another comfortable win.

Post-Match Reaction

Manager Rafael Benitez praised his star man, but also insisted is side still had room for improvement. 

Per Manu Sainz of AS, via ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan he said:

"

The numbers speak for themselves. [Ronaldo] has his place in history. I hope he keeps adding to this goals tally. Cristiano will always be up there with [Alfredo] Di Stefano and Raul.

I really like to talk about the team when you win a game like this, and you must highlight all the goals—including Cristiano Ronaldo's five. There will always be things to improve, which is what we have to do.

"

He added: "We played a good game, we had power up front, and there are things to still polish. Espanyol did many things well, but we had that attacking power. It is a spectacular result, away from home, but there are still things we can improve, I can say that without vanity."