Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals to lead Real Madrid to a 4-2 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, provisionally lifting it into second place, while Gary Neville finally got his first Spanish league victory in charge of Valencia.
Ronaldo opened the scoring in the third minute before Javier Eraso quickly leveled for the Basques that finished with James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos giving Madrid a 3-1 lead at halftime. Madrid’s Raphael Varane, whose error led to Eraso’s goal, was sent off in the 83rd after earning identical bookings.
Despite being a man down, Ronaldo found the net again in 87th to move past luis Suarez as league’s leading scorer with 21 goals this season. Gorka Elustondo headed in Bilbao’s second goal in the 90th.
Also, Neville finally saw his Valencia team win a league match after substitute Alvaro Negredo and newcomer Denis Cheryshev scored in the final 20 minutes of a 2-1 comeback victory over visiting Espanyol.