Cristiano Ronaldo set two personal milestones as he led Real Madrid to a record-equalling 18th-straight win on a historic night at the Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo set two personal milestones as he led Real Madrid to a record-equalling 18th-straight win on a historic night at the Bernabeu.

The Portugal forward has now scored more hat-tricks than any other La Liga player after completing his 23rd treble with his 200th Spanish top-flight goal.

He put Madrid ahead by drilling in a disputed penalty, after he had been fouled under seemingly minimal contact.

And his clinical volley and guided finish moved Real four points clear.

Ronaldo, who is the favourite to win the 2014 Ballon d’Or for his performances this year, was given a standing ovation as he was substituted towards the end of another memorable performance.

The 29-year-old had scored the same amount of hat-tricks as legendary Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra of Athletic Bilbao, and eclipsed their tallies when he steered in Marcelo’s cross.

And it also meant he reached his second century of La Liga goals in his 178th match for Real.

Ronaldo illuminated the Bernabeu in the final stages of what had been a largely uninspiring performance from Carlo Ancelotti’s side against mid-table Celta.

Celta shaded possession against their illustrious rivals, but failed to have a meaningful shot on target at Iker Casillas’ goal.

And Ronaldo took advantage to fire Madrid to their 18th successive victory in all competitions – matching the Spanish record set by Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona between October 2005 and January 2006.

Meanwhile, defending champions Atletico Madrid moved up to secondafter a 2-0 win at Elche earlier on Saturday, although Barcelona can overtake – and reduce the gap on Real back to two points when they host Espanyol on Sunday.

La Liga’s all-time leading scorers
Player	Goals	Club(s)	Years
Lionel Messi	253	Barcelona	2004-present
Telmo Zarra	251	Athletic Bilbao	1940-1955
Hugo Sanchez	234	Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Rayo Vallecano	1981-1994
Raul	228	Real Madrid	1994-2010
Alfredo di Stefano	227	Real Madrid	1953-1966
Cesar Rodriguez	223	Barcelona, Granada	1939-1955
Quini	219	Sporting Gijon, Barcelona	1970-1987
Pahino	210	Celta Vigo, Real Madrid, Deportivo, Granada	1943-1956
Cristiano Ronaldo	200	Real Madrid	2009-present
Edmundo Suarez	195	Valencia	1939-1950

Ronaldo converted a controversial first-half penalty which led to the Celta players surrounding the referee

The Portugal skipper doubled Madrid’s lead with a superb 15-yard volley

Then, he took outright control of La Liga’s hat-trick record in the final 10 minutes

LINEUP, BOOKINGS (8) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)

Real Madrid

• 01 Casillas


• 15 Carvajal Booked


• 03 Pepe


• 04 Ramos Booked


• 12 Marcelo


• 11 Bale


• 24 Illarramendi


• 08 Kroos


• 10 Rodríguez Booked (Arbeloa – 53′ Booked )


• 09 Benzema (Fábio Coentrão – 80′ )


• 07 Ronaldo (Hernández – 85′ )

Substitutes

• 02 Varane


• 05 Fábio Coentrão


• 13 Navas


• 14 Hernández


• 17 Arbeloa


• 18 Nacho


• 26 Medrán

Celta de Vigo

• 01 Álvarez Conde


• 02 Mallo Novegil


• 22 Cabral Booked (Gómez Sola – 74′ )


• 03 Fontás


• 19 Castro Otto Booked


• 23 Krohn-Dehli (Mina Lorenzo – 82′ )


• 05 Hernández Booked


• 06 Radoja


• 14 Orellana (Fernández – 70′ )


• 11 Larrivey


• 10 Agudo Durán Booked

Substitutes

• 07 Mina Lorenzo


• 08 López Sánchez


• 09 Dias de Oliveira


• 13 Blanco


• 20 Gómez Sola


• 21 Planas


• 24 Fernández

Ref: Alberto Undiano Mallenco

Att: 80,300