The Portuguese attacker has been criticised for his lack of goalscoring in 2015 but he was on fire against Granada in Real Madrid’s 9-1 triumph on Sunday

Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals in one match for the first time in his career as Real Madrid hammered Granada 9-1 on Sunday.

The Portugal international began his goalscoring spree at the Santiago Bernabeu after 30 minutes and scored a hat-trick in eight minutes in the first half, netting his final two strikes in the 54th and 89th minutes.

Ronaldo has scored four goals in a single game three times since joining the Blancos from Manchester United in 2009, most recently in September last year, but never before in the three-time Ballon d’Or winner’s career has he bagged five efforts in 90 minutes.

His five-star performance against Granada, who are four points off the bottom of La Liga, leaves him level with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi in terms of hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight.

Ronaldo almost doubled his tally for goals in 2015 in La Liga (he now has 11 for the calendar year and 36 for the season in the Primera Division) and now sits eighth on the all-time list having overtaken former Real Madrid striker Pahino this weekend.

The 30-year-old will be delighted that he has scored four goals in a single game more than twice in a season for the first time in his professional career, while toppling his own record for his fastest hat-trick.

Source Goal