Madrid: Despite performing poorly in the opening 45 minutes, Real Madrid made up for it with a fantastic performance in the second period to defeat Real Betis 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the La Liga on Saturday.
Gonzalo Higuain was the hero for Madrid again, as he continued his wonderful form in recent weeks. His well-taken hat-trick against Betis on Saturday made it nine goals in four games for club and country in the past 11 days. Kaka netted the home side's other goal.
With the scores still level in the first half, Betis' keeper Casto did well to push Cristiano Ronaldo's devilish cross to relative safety, only for Mezut Ozil to hack the ball back towards goal and it was only a decent block from Dorado that ensured the scores remained level.
Betis' best chance of the opening 45 minute fell to Ruben Castro, but he could only volley over from 10 yards out after being found in space inside the penalty area.
It was a disappointing half for the home side, and as the whistle was blown, their efforts were met with jeers by an expectant crowd.
It was not long before they broke the deadlock after the interval, however - less than 45 seconds in fact.
Marcelo hooked a wonderful ball to Ronaldo, who exhibited his electric pace to get the wrong side of the defender and pull the ball back to Higuain, who calmly slotted into an empty net from six yards out. In doing so, he continued his rich vein of goalscoring form.
Kaka added a second in the 59th minute with a superb effort after Ronaldo found him on the edge of the area after steaming past Francisco Chica Torres down the left.
The Brazilian took a touch to set himself and then whipped the ball round Casto and into the bottom corner of the net. He was clearly delighted with his strike, and despite being substituted immediately after, was sporting a grin as he took his place on the bench.
Betis pulled a goal back minutes later after hesitancy in the Madrid area allowed Castro to burst through, and the ricochet fell to Jorge Molina who controlled the ball well and fired past Iker Casillas.
Higuain made it 3-1 on 70 minutes, rounding Casto and slotting home from an acute angle after another glorious assist, this time from the substitute Angel Di Maria.
Di Maria was the provider yet again as Higuain completed his hat-trick, his second in a row in La Liga. The Argentine saved the best till last, lobbing a beautiful finish over Casto's head after racing through one-on-one.
It was Higuain's third hat-trick in 14 days after trebles for Madrid against Espanyol and for Argentina against Chile.
"I am happy, very happy for having scored and helped the team," said Higuain, who had lost his starting role to Karim Benzema after a back injury sidelined him for a large stretch of last season.
"A few weeks ago I wasn't playing, but I am in the same form as before, just taking advantage of the opportunities I have," Higuain said. "After all the time I had to wait to play, now I am enjoying it even more."
The win for Madrid put them temporarily top, but Barcelona moved above them later in the evening after a 3-0 win over Racing Santander. Betis meanwhile, will be disappointed to be beaten in such a manner in the second half, and have now recorded three defeats in a row.
Also on Saturday, Valencia were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca, while Villarreal drew 0-0 at Getafe as both teams continue to disappoint.
Tomar Hemed's injury-time penalty kick salvaged a point for Mallorca against visiting Valencia in the debut of coach Joaquin Caparros.
France defender Adil Rami scored from a corner to put Valencia ahead in the 39th, but Hemed converted his third spot-kick in two games to split the points in the 93rd after Mehmet Topal handled the ball in the area.
Rami was shown a red card for insulting the referee following the match.
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