Gareth Bale Hits 4 as Real Madrid Head into Christmas on a High Note

Gareth Bale exploded for four goals as Real Madrid romped to a 10-2 victory over nine-man Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

The result was exactly what Real in general—and Bale in particular—needed heading into the mini-break for Christmas, though some defensive concerns will remain from a wild first half that saw Rayo briefly take the lead.

With the win, Rafa Benitez's men moved within two points of leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the top of the Liga table. Barca still have a game in hand, but Atletico lost at Malaga on Sunday, allowing Real to close the gap on their cross-town rivals.

Los Blancos now have 10 days until their next league fixture, a home date with Real Sociedad, and this emphatic victory surely helped restore some confidence following the loss at Villarreal last weekend.

Alberto Saiz/Associated Press

For Bale, it was a personal triumph, with the four goals doubling his scoring output for the entire campaign. After struggling through the 2014-15 season, Bale will be pleased with this performance heading into the final game of the calendar year.

"Bale really good with movement off the ball, power, pace," tweeted Bleacher Report's Karl Matchett. "Took advantage of space big time."

Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez also enjoyed stellar days in the attacking third. Benzema finished off a second-half hat-trick in the 90th minute, while Ronaldo struck twice and Rodriguez served up three assists.

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And yet, for all the eye-popping offensive numbers, the day might have turned out differently for Real. After taking an early lead through Danilo, the hosts fell behind to two headers in quick succession from Antonio Amaya and Jozabed.

The first came from a 10th-minute corner, with Amaya beating Pepe to head in past Keylor Navas. Two minutes later, Jozabed beat Danilo to a cross, heading in Rayo's second for a brief 2-1 lead.

But the trajectory of the match quickly changed after Tito drew a red card in the 14th minute. Raul Baena was the next to go, in the 28th minute, a decision that reduced Rayo to nine men for the rest of the game.

Real took full advantage, equalizing in between the two red cards and then scoring a further eight goals to complete the rout.

From the start of the second half, the result was never in doubt. The only question was how many Real could score. 

After the match, Benitez told Real Madrid's official website:

"

There were three phases in the match: the first, in which we scored and did what we knew we were capable of doing, and constantly looked to get in behind their defenders; the second, when we conceded two goals and needed to pay more attention in defence; and the third, when the team got into the game by making the most of the numerical advantage.

From that point on we did what we needed to do, scored goals.

"

That last part is an obvious understatement, but Benitez was right to point out Real's defensive concerns in his post-match comments. Until the 15th minute, the home fans at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu were unhappy with their team's performance. Real had started brightly, but Rayo hit back and threatened—albeit briefly—to spring an upset.

Defensive instability was to blame for that part, but thanks to an overwhelming attack—and two red cards—Real cantered to a simply victory in the end. The result is all that matters, and now Madrid will look forward to ending 2015 on a positive note.