Ronaldo hits another hat-trick for Real

Reuters: Cristiano Ronaldo hit his fourth hat-trick of the season in Real Madrid’s 7-1 defeat of Osasuna in La Liga at the weekend while Lionel Messi salvaged Barcelona’s unbeaten record in a 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Mario Gomez and Edin Dzeko, two more of European soccer’s most prolific scorers, were also on target as Bayern Munich and Manchester City stayed top in Germany and England respectively.

Spain

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Real Madrid’s 7-1 demolition of Osasuna, sending them three points clear at the top of La Liga.

Angel Di Maria set up the first three goals for Ronaldo, Pepe and Gonzalo Higuain, Ronaldo scored two more to complete his fourth treble this season and Karim Benzema weighed in with another two. Barcelona are second on 25 points from 11 games after being held 2-2 at Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao, where Lionel Messi grabbed a dramatic late equaliser, Cesc Fabregas having levelled in the first half of a pulsating encounter. Valencia are third with 24 points after beating neighbours Levante 2-0, pushing the season’s surprise early pacesetters into fourth with 23.

England

The top five in the Premier League all won leaving Manchester City top by five points after a 3-2 victory at Queen’s Park Rangers.

Edin Dzeko struck again for City as they came from a goal down to move to 31 points from 11 games.

Champions Manchester United (26) edged a 1-0 victory over Sunderland while third-placed Newcastle United (25) maintained their unbeaten start with a 2-1 home win against Everton.

Chelsea bounced back from consecutive league defeats against QPR and Arsenal with a 1-0 win at Blackburn Rovers. Tottenham Hotspur’s seventh win in eight league games, a 3-1 victory at Fulham, kept them level with Chelsea on 22 points.

Germany

Mario Gomez scored his 13th league goal of the season while Frenchman Franck Ribery was also on target to give leaders Bayern Munich a 2-1 win at bottom-of-the-table Augsburg. Bayern, with 28 points from 12 games, are five clear of Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach who all won to leapfrog Schalke 04, held 2-2 at Hanover 96.

Peru forward Claudio Pizarro scored a second-half hat-trick as Werder came from 2-0 down to beat Cologne 3-2.

Dortmund thumped VfL Wolfsburg 5-1 and Moenchengladbach, who needed a playoff to avoid relegation last season, won 2-1 at promoted Hertha Berlin.

France

Paris St Germain dropped their first points in seven Ligue 1 games when they were held 1-1 at Girondins Bordeaux but stayed top when second-placed Montpellier drew 1-1 at St Etienne.

Olympique Lyon, fourth, suffered a humbling 2-1 defeat at Sochaux while champions Lille, who are third, could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to promoted Evian thanks to Benoit Pedretti’s free kick.

Olympique Marseille were the only winners among the big clubs with Jordan Ayew and Loic Remy scoring in a 2-0 win over Nice.

Italy

Udinese and Lazio leapfrogged Juventus at the top of Serie A with home victories over Siena and Parma after the Turin side’s match with Napoli was postponed due to flooding. Goals in each half from Dusan Basta and Antonio Di Natale kept up Udinese’s 100 percent record at home this season with a 2-1 win over Siena A late strike from substitute Giuseppe Sculli gave Lazio a 1-0 victory at home to Parma as the two sides reached 21 points from 10 games, a point clear of Milan and two above Juventus.

Titleholders AC Milan won their fifth straight match, crushing Catania 4-0 thanks to goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Gianluca Zambrotta and an own goal from Francesco Lodi.

Portugal

Porto and Benfica stayed level at the top of the Portuguese Premier League after away draws against Olhanense and Braga respectively.

Burly Brazil striker Hulk missed an early penalty for Porto who were unable to break down a combative Olhanense side and drew 0-0 after a lacklustre performance.

Spanish forward Rodrigo came in for Benfica after the break and snatched a 1-1 draw against Europa League runners-up Braga, cancelling out Lima’s first half opener. Benfica and Porto have 24 points after ten matches, one point clear of third place Sporting, who beat Leiria 3-1.

Netherlands

Defending champions Ajax Amsterdam fell further behind the leaders as they lost 6-4 at Utrecht in an extraordinary match. Ajax led 2-0 after 10 minutes, were pegged back to 2-2 but regained the lead just before halftime. However, they never recovered after conceding three goals in five minutes after the break. Ajax are fifth, eleven points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar who beat ADO Den Haag 3-0.