Cristiano Ronaldo continued his latest scoring run with two goals in Real Madrid's 2-1 win at Eibar in the Spanish league on Saturday.
After a slow start to the season, Ronaldo has netted 13 goals in his last seven appearances to take his total to 33 in 34 games this campaign.
Ronaldo put Madrid ahead in the 34th minute after luka Modric intercepted a loose ball from Eibar centre- back Aritz Arbilla and placed a perfect pass for the Portugal forward to control with his chest and fire in past Dmitrovic.
Eibar equalized in the 50th minute when defender Ivan Ramis broke free of Sergio Ramos to head home a corner kick by Pedro leon.
Ramis needed to be substituted shortly after because of the lingering effects of a knee injury he appeared to suffer near the end of the first half.
Cristiano Ronaldo had two more excellent chances — on either side of Ramis' equalizer — to grab another goal but was denied by superb one-handed saves from goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane sent on Karim Benzema and lucas Vazquez to look for the winner.
But it was right back Dani Carvajal who intercepted a poor pass by midfielder Pedro leon and curled a brilliantly placed cross into the middle of the box for Ronaldo to find the back of the net for the second time with a close range header and with six minutes of play remaining.
With a miute shy of the 90-minute mark, Eibar came close to make it 2-2 as a corner awarded to the home side wasn’t neatly dealt by Madrid, causing the loose ball to bounce dangerously on the edge of the visitors’ penalty box before it fell to Eibar’s Pape Diop, who picked out teammate Joan Jordan with a bouncing cross. Jordan connected with the pass only to be denied smartly by Keylor Navas at the near post.
That was to be Eibar’s last chance for the day as Madrid were more than happy to keep possession of the ball for the three minutes of added time, keeping the home side as far away from the ball as possible.
"The worst part is that their goals both came from our mistakes," Dmitrovic said.
"You can't give Madrid even half a chance because they will take full advantage of it," he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo's goals were his 17th and 18th in the league this season. He only trails Barcelona pair lionel Messi with 24 and luis Suarez with 20.
Madrid defender Raphael Varane was substituted in the 26th after a blow to the head. He walked off the pitch and was replaced by Nacho Fernandez.
Madrid remained third, 12 points behind leaders Barcelona who visit Malaga later Saturday, and four points short of second-placed Atletico Madrid who host Celta de Vigo on Sunday.
Eibar were left in eighth place, two points behind Villareal who currently occupy the Europa league qualification play off spot in the la liga table and who will be playing a game away at las Palmas on Sunday.