Gareth Bale scored four times as Real Madrid came from behind to beat nine-man Rayo Vallecano a whopping 10-2 in a wild game at the Santiago Bernabeu to close the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to two points.
It is the first time in 55 years that a team has scored 10 goals in a La Liga game.
However, the Madrid fans still voiced their disapproval towards under fire coach Rafael Benitez after Real found themselves 2-1 down inside 12 minutes.
Red cards inside half an hour for Tito and Raul Baena opened the floodgates, though, as a double from Cristiano Ronaldo and a hat-trick for Karim Benzema added to Bale’s most prolific day in three years as a Madrid player.
Atletico have the chance to extend their lead at the top back to five points later on Sunday when they visit Malaga.
Barcelona aren’t in La Liga action this weekend as they sealed the Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over River Plate earlier in the day.
Madrid president Florentino Perez had restated his support for Benitez in midweek after rumours suggested he was one defeat away from the sack after losing 1-0 at Villarreal last weekend.
Real had won their previous 14 meetings against their humble rivals from across Madrid and looked well set for another routine afternoon when Bale teed up Danilo for the opener after just three minutes.
Yet, Madrid’s defensive deficiencies in recent weeks were exposed again when Antonio Amaya rose highest to head home Roberto Trashorras’s corner.
And the defending was even worse from Danilo as he allowed Jozabed to head home from close range two minutes later.
With the Madrid fans on the verge of full revolt, the hosts were handed a huge break when Tito needlessly lunged in on Toni Kroos and was rightly shown a straight red card.
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