Cristiano Ronaldo struck his first Real Madrid hat-trick as the title hopefuls produced a brilliant second-half display to down Real Mallorca and trim the gap on leaders Barcelona back to one point with two games remaining in the Primera Division.

Ronaldo, who had previously netted eight braces in Madrid colours but never gone on to claim a treble, struck in the 26th, 57th and 72nd minutes to cancel out Aritz Aduriz's early opener for Mallorca.

Gonzalo Higuain then added a late fourth for Madrid, putting the Argentinian on 26 for the season - one ahead of team-mate Ronaldo and five behind Barcelona's Lionel Messi at the top of the scoring charts. This weekend Madrid play host to Athletic Bilbao while Barcelona face a potentially tricky trip to Sevilla.

Sevilla shrugged off the absence of star striker Luis Fabiano to destroy Racing Santander 5-1 at El Sardinero. Both sides were desperate for a win with Sevilla two points off the UEFA Champions League places and Racing just one point above the relegation zone.

Brazil striker Fabiano was absent with an ankle injury but his team-mates were more than up to the task against Racing as a brace by Alvaro Negredo and goals from Fredi Kanoute, Jesus Navas and Diego Capel secured an impressive win. Mohamed Tchite clawed back some pride for Racing.

Athletic Bilbao missed a glorious chance to move back into the top six following a disappointing draw at home to lowly Malaga. Having scored just once in their last four matches, Joaquin Caparro's side got off to the perfect start in this game as Gaizka Toquero opened the scoring after just four minutes. But the locals' joy was shortlived as Duda equalised 15 minutes later direct from a corner.

European hopes ended
Deportivo La Coruna's woeful form continued as Osasuna slammed the door on their UEFA Europa League hopes. Osasuna went in front through a Javier Camunas header only for Riki to level five minutes later. Walter Pandiani restored the home side's lead, though, and Juanfran gave them a two-goal cushion just after the half hour.

Adrian Colunga's late spot-kick gave Real Zaragoza a vital win over Espanyol to all but secure their survival. He made no mistake from the spot to settle a tense affair after Nico Pareja had brought down Ander Herrera.

Real Valladolid`s hopes of avoiding the drop took a potentially costly hit as they suffered their first defeat under new coach Javier Clemente, going down to cup specialists Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. Atletico rode their luck to lead 1-0 at the break thanks to Juanito`s goal but then settled the contest with two goals in quick succession from Jose Manuel Jurado and Diego Forlan in the second half.

Second-bottom Valladolid pulled a goal back 12 minutes from time through Jonathan Sesma but they slipped three points adrift of safety with just two games remaining.