La Liga: Cristiano Ronaldo turns boos to cheers as Real Madrid extend lead

Real Madrids Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs Real Sociedad PicPTIBarcelona Cristiano Ronaldo shrugged off the boos of his own supporters to fire Real Madrid to a 30 win over Real Sociedad on Sunday as Zinedine Zidanes side took advantage of slip ups by Barcelona and Sevilla to open up a fourpoint lead at the top of La LigaRonaldo teed up Mateo Kovacic for the opener in the 38th minute to cool tensions at the Bernabeu after supporters had grown impatient with an uninspired display and then secured victory with a strike of his own in the 51stSubstitute Alvaro Morata then put the finishing touch to the win by adding the third in the 82nd minute With Barcelona only able to snatch a 11 draw at Real Betis with a late Luis Suarez equaliser after earlier having had a clear goal disallowed and 10man Sevilla losing 31 at Espanyol Real strengthened their position at the top of the tableThey have 46 points with Barca second on 42 ahead of thirdplaced Sevilla on goal difference Zidanes side also have a game in hand on both their title rivalsRonaldo had been one of the scapegoats for Reals recent stuttering run which saw them win one of their last four games and exit the Kings Cup in midweek to Celta Vigo He was whistled after giving the ball away early in the game and responded by shouting back at the crowd although all was forgiven when he latched onto Kovacics through ball and coolly chipped it into the netReal Madrids Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo R celebrates a goal beside teammates during the Spanish league football match PicPTIAfter a few difficult days we were back doing our thing It was a good night because our rivals drew and lost Youre always more motivated when your rivals slip up Zidane told reporters We had some difficult moments but at the same time we played well Its not easy to score three goals against Real SociedadSuarez snatched a late equaliser for Barcelona but their title hopes were dented as the champions were also denied a goal despite the ball clearly crossing the lineBetiss Alex Alegria gave the home side a deserved lead in the 75th minute after they had hit the woodwork twice in quick succession although Suarez secured a point for the visitors by arrowing home Lionel Messis through ball in the 90thReal Madrids Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo thumbs up to fans after the Spanish league football match PicPTIBefore the equaliser Barca were left incensed when Aleix Vidals cross was deflected towards goal and the ball crossed the line by about a metre before Aissa Mandi scrambled it away Unlike the English Premier League there is no goalline technology in La Liga to help the referee I have nothing to say about the ghost goal Ive seen the pictures Technology could help and its obvious that referees need help Barca coach Luis Enrique told reportersGiltEdged ChanceBetis striker Ruben Castro missed a giltedged chance to seal an unlikely win but failed to beat MarcAndre ter Stegen after racing through on goal unchallenged Suarezs goal came too late for Barca to score another as their fivegame winning streak in all competitions endedWe did not play well we made lots of errors in the first half and in the second half they were completely superior to us we were nowhere near our usual level Luis Enrique said The final minutes changed our sensations but this feels like a point gainedFellow contenders Sevilla also faltered at Espanyol after playing almost the whole game with 10 men after Nico Pareja was sent off in the second minute Goals from their former player Jose Antonio Reyes Marc Navarro and Gerard Moreno condemned Jorge Sampaolis side to their first defeat after a run of five league wins Stevan Jovetic scored for the visitors who battled back to level but the strain of playing for so long with 10 men after Parejas straight red card eventually showed