Bale hat-trick helps Real Madrid near summit

The World's most expensive footballer Gareth Bale has scored his first hat-trick for Real Madrid cruised to a 4-0 win over Valladolid in the Spanish league.

The Welshman also set up a fourth goal on Saturday to make sure Real Madrid did not miss injured star Cristiano Ronaldo.

With Ronaldo out nursing a hurt hamstring for a second straight game, Bale took up the scoring duties in the 32nd minute then found Karim Benzema to make it 2-0 four minutes later.

Bale got his second in the 64th and third in the 89th to give him five goals since Ronaldo was sidelined.

Madrid's fourth league win in a row following its loss at Barcelona lifted them three points from the defending champions, who crashed 1-0 against Athletic Bilbao, their first La Liga defeat of the season.

Atletico Madrid moved level on points with Barcelona when they beat Elche 2-0 in their away win.

- aljazeera.com