Red-hot Ronaldo’s brace gets Madrid back on track

RONALDO returned to the type of form that won him three World Player of the Year awards by getting two goals in Real Madrid’s emphatic 3-0 victory at bottom club Alaves on Sunday.

“This was a great victory. Football is like that and, in the end, the footballer with talent and quality is the one that makes the difference,” said Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, paying tribute to the player he discovered.

The triumph will take the pressure off Luxemburgo after speculation that the Brazilian coach’s job was in jeopardy after three consecutive losses before Real’s 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.

Real dominated the first half but had to wait 59 minutes before Ronaldo opened the scoring with a blistering left-foot shot from 20 yards.

Three minutes later the Brazilian striker hit the post but his second goal came eight minutes from time when a long pass by David Beckham from his own half found the Alaves defence in disarray and Ronaldo in the right place to take advantage of the open spaces.

Guti added the third three minutes into injury time to move Real into second place, temporarily at least, ahead of Celta Vigo’s late game last night against struggling Sevilla. Celta restored order to regain top spot and push Real back to third with a 2-1 victory.

Malaga were in holiday mood at Real Mallorca, romping to a 4-1 win, while back on the mainland Osasuna scored a 2-0 home win over Cadiz.

Unbeaten Getafe continued their remarkable season by winning 1-0 at near-neighbours Atletico Madrid to go back to the top of the Spanish first division on Saturday, while champions Barcelona got their first domestic away victory with a 4-1 win at Real Betis the same night.

In Italy, Lazio came back from the dead yesterday, fighting back from two down to beat Palermo 4-2 at home.

The Sicilian visitors had looked on course to extend their unbeaten Serie A start and claim second place outright after goals from Andrea Caracciolo and Mariano Gonzalez.

But Lazio scored three times in a blistering eight-minute spell before Tomasso Rocchi capped a superb display by grabbing his second goal of the match four minutes from time.

Livorno’s 2-0 home win over Ascoli lifted them up to third place on 11 points, four behind leaders Juventus, who won 2-1 at Parma on Saturday.

Fiorentina could have leapfrogged their Tuscan rivals into the runners-up spot if they had avoided defeat at Inter Milan in last night’s late match at the San Siro. They failed, going down 1-0 courtesy of Obafemi Martin’s seventh -minute goal which kept Inter in second spot on 11 points.

AC Milan revived their title challenge with a 2-0 win at Treviso where Milan captain Paolo Maldini played in his 571st Serie A match to set a new record of appearances in Italy’s top division.

An Andriy Shevchenko penalty and a tap-in from Alberto Gilardino ensured all the points for last season’s beaten Champions League finalists.

Sampdoria’s three-match winning streak was ended by a 2-1 defeat at Chievo, while Siena won 4-2 at home to Messina. Empoli beat Lecce 1-0 for their second win on the trot, while Roma were held to a goalless draw at Cagliari.

On Saturday title-holders Juventus maintained their 100% record with a come-from-behind win at Parma, their fifth consecutive victory.

Patrick Vieira’s 82nd-minute header, his third goal in five matches since his summer move from Arsenal, secured the win after Mauro Camoranesi had cancelled out Marco Delvecchio’s early opener.

Also on Saturday, Reggina ended a run of four straight defeats with a 2-0 home victory against Udinese.

France’s defending champions Lyon opened up a four-point gap at the top of Ligue 1 when Brazilian Chaves Fred earned a 1-0 win at Nantes.

On Saturday, Paris Saint Germain had temporarily closed the gap to one point after a goalless draw with French first division newcomers Le Mans on Saturday. Bordeaux, 1-0 winners over Ajaccio, jumped three places into third, one point adrift, on goal difference from Jacques Santini’s Auxerre.

In Germany, SV Hamburg ended Bayern Munich’s record run of 15 consecutive league wins, defeating the Bundesliga champions 2-0 to remain unbeaten and move to within a point of Bayern at the top.

Hamburg fans can toast their team’s success as Germany’s Bitburg Brewery had agreed to offer 10,000 litres of free beer for the fans of the first team to beat Bayern this season.