Benzema's hat-trick fires Real Madrid past Almeria to keep pressure on Barcelona

With Barcelona not in action until the late kick-off, Real Madrid had a chance to cut the gap on the Blaugrana to 8 points and they did so emphatically, thanks to a remarkable goalscoring display from Karim Benzema.

It took the home side just five minutes to open the scoring as Vinicius Junior breezed past Houboulang Mendes, before squaring the ball for Benzema to score his 15th La Liga goal of the season.

The Frenchman didn’t have to wait long for his second of the evening, applying a cool finish after sensational work from Rodrygo to set him up.

There were some positive moments for the visitors, as Cesar de la Hoz delivered an inviting cross that was headed marginally wide by Largie Ramazani.

Ramazani mistimed a tackle and brought down Lucas Vázquez inside the area. Benzema calmly converted the spot kick to complete his hat-trick.

Ramazani made amends for his error four minutes later, teeing up Lazaro for a simple finish to give Almeria a ray of hope heading into the interval.

Real responded after the break by extending their lead through Rodrygo who turned on the edge of Almeria’s box and rifled his strike out of Goalkeeper Fernando Martínez’s reach.

With the game almost over, Lucas Robertone offered some inspiration to the visiting fans by punishing a mistake from Toni Kroos to head home.