La Liga Results 2018 Week 23: Final Scores and Updated Table After Saturday

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick on Saturday as Real Madrid romped to a 5-2 win over Real Sociedad to move up to third in La Liga, although they remain 16 points away from leaders Barcelona.

Ahead of them in second sit Atletico Madrid, who edged their second successive 1-0 victory in their trip to Malaga to remain within six points of Barca, albeit having played one game more than the Blaugrana.

Villarreal lost their third home league match of the season and fell 2-1 to Alaves, who held out for a famous win at the Estadio de la Ceramica after Rodrigo Ely and Ibai Gomez put them into a 2-0 lead.

Eibar temporarily moved into sixth following a 1-0 victory at 10-man Leganes, winning thanks to an injury-time header from centre-back Ivan Ramis.

Read on for a roundup of Saturday's La Liga results and an updated look at the top-flight standings.

Saturday's Results

Villarreal 1-2 Alaves

Malaga 0-1 Atletico Madrid

Leganes 0-1 Eibar

Real Madrid 5-2 Real Sociedad

La Liga Standings (Goal Difference)

1. Barcelona 58 (49)

2. Atletico Madrid 52 (25)

3. Real Madrid 42 (27)

4. Valencia 40 (16)

5. Villarreal 37 (6)

6. Eibar 35 (-2)

7. Sevilla 33 (-6)

8. Celta Vigo 31 (7)

9. Girona 31 (2)

10. Real Betis 30 (-8)

11. Getafe 29 (+5)

12. Leganes 29 (-2)

13. Athletic Bilbao 28 (-1)

14. Real Sociedad 26 (-2)

15. Espanyol 25 (-10)

16. Alaves 25 (-12)

17. Levante 20 (-12)

18. Las Palmas 18 (-33)

19. Deportivo La Coruna 17 (-27)

20. Malaga 13 (-22)

Visit the Sky Sports website for a breakdown of La Liga's standings in full.

Recap

Madrid's 5-2 win over Sociedad still leaves Los Blancos 16 points adrift of runaway Barca, but the hat-trick performance of Ronaldo will be enough to hearten manager Zinedine Zidane in a tough part of the campaign.

Lucas Vazquez needed only 45 seconds to head in a terrific Ronaldo cross, and Toni Kroos added to the rampage as Ronaldo's 10-minute brace put Madrid into a 4-0 lead at the break. Ronaldo ended a hat-trick drought late on, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Jon Bautista and Asier Illarramendi added late consolations for La Real, who recorded their fifth defeat in six games and remain 14th but look safe at eight points off the relegation zone.

Antoine Griezmann needed even less time than Vazquez to fire Atletico ahead in their trip to the Rosaleda Stadium, though ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan detailed it as a major highlight:

Villarreal's reputation as inhospitable hosts has taken something of a knock of late, losing for the third time in their last three home league outings and missing out on the chance to stay in La Liga's top four.

Alaves had only five shots on target compared to Villarreal's 27 but still managed to come away with maximum points, and Spanish football writer David Cartlidge praised the work of manager Abelardo Fernandez since his appointment:

Ely glanced his header inside the right post before loan signing John Guidetti teed up Gomez for a one-on-one with Sergio Asenjo, which the Alves attacker tucked away.

Carlos Bacca scored in the 77th minute, not long before Enes Unal just missed out on the chance to equalise by thumping his effort off the woodwork.

Eibar's 1-0 win at Leganes was their third in their last five trips away from home, keeping them in the conversation to clinch qualification for European competition as they sit sixth after 23 games.

Leganes centre-back Dimitrios Siovas was sent off for a second caution late on and was missed when Ramis stormed into their box in the 94th minute, rising highest to head past goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar, who could have dealt better with the attempt.