体坛英语新闻：Ronaldo hat-trick takes him to 200 league goals and keeps Real Madrid top of the table

MADRID, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick on Saturday night to give Real Madrid a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Celta Vigo.

Not only does Ronaldo' s hat-trick assure his side will remain top of the BBVA Primera Liga, but it also saw him reach the milestone of 200 league goals for his club.

Ronaldo set the scene for the evening in the 17th minute when he sent a spectacular overhead kick just over the Celta crossbar and he forced a save from Celta keeper, Sergio Alvarez 10 minutes later as Real Madrid dominated possession.

James Rodriguez forced another save from the Celta goalkeeper before Madrid took the lead in controversial fashion after 36 minutes when Ronaldo went down very easily in the Celta area after Jonny Castro brushed his arm.

Referee Undiano Mallenco pointed to the penalty spot and Ronaldo sent Alvarez the wrong way to net his 21st league goal of the season.

The league leaders suffered a setback early in the second half when James was forced off with what looked like a calf injury, but Ronaldo assured the win after 65 minutes volleying home from the edge of the penalty area after the visitors' defense failed to deal with a bouncing ball.

Ronaldo' s hat-trick came with 10 minutes left after Bale collected a loose ball before passing to Marcelo, whose cross left Ronaldo with a simple tap in.

The day kicked off with Atletico Madrid maintaining their title defense thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win away to relegation candidates Elche.

Central defender Jose Gimenez opened the scoring from what was possibly an offside position, while Mario Mandzukic doubled the lead for Diego Simeone' s side against a rival which is really struggling and has to be among the favorites for relegation.

Cordoba produced one of the shocks of the season as they won 1-0 away to Athletic Club Bilbao to claim their first win of the season. Nabil Ghilas took advantage of a terrible error from Ander Iturraspe which left him clean through on goal.

Athletic forced 17 corners in the game, but were well below their best on a rainy night in San Mames.

Sunday' s standout game is the Barcelona derby between FC Barcelona and Espanyol in the Camp Nou Stadium.