Cristiano Ronaldo returned from a two-game suspension with a pair of goals, and Real Madrid scored three times after half to defeat last-place Xerez 3-0 on Saturday in La Liga.

Real closed within two points of first-place Barcelona, which visits Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Ronaldo scored his 10th and 11th goals in a two-minute stretch of second half. Alvaro Arbeloa opened the scoring for Madrid in the 64th, five minutes before Ronaldo added his brace. Kaka assisted on both of Ronaldo´s goals.

Ronaldo, who joined Real in a $132 million transfer from Manchester United in the offseason, had a ton of chances in the first half before he finally broke through.

He headed at Xerez goalie Renan in the 15th, slipped while taking an open shot in the 20th and fired wide, and drilled his third chance at Renan in the 28th.

Esteban Granero forced Renan to make a save, and Ronaldo ended the half with a header off the top of the crossbar in the 45th.

Arbeloa lifted the tension off the Real side in the 64th, when Granero hit him with a through ball, and he drove into the area and finished well to the near post with a right-footed shot.

Five minutes later, Kaka settled the ball on the right side, peaked up to find Ronaldo on the far side, and delivered a pin-point cross. Ronaldo ran onto the pass and headed powerfully back to the right post.

Ronaldo and Kaka combined again two minutes later, with Ronaldo setting up his own goal. Ronaldo played Kaka into the left side of the area and split off to the right. Kaka did well to keep possession, then slid a pass to back across the area to Ronaldo for an easy left-footed finish into an empty net.

Xerez, which has just two wins, folded after the three-goal outburst from Real and the visitors cruised to the final whistle.

Also Saturday, Mata scored in the 76th minute and third-place Valencia escaped Sporting Gijon with a 1-1 tie, and Joan Capdevila and Nilmar scored and Bilbao missed a late penalty kick as Villarreal posted a 2-1 win.

Also Sunday, Valladolid hosts Real Zaragoza, Racing hosts Malaga, Getafe hosts Almeria, Espanyol hosts Deportivo, and Sevilla hosts Osasuna. Tenerife hosts Mallorca on Monday.

via The Sports Network – International Soccer (Spain).