Marco Asensio scored a hat-trick and Karim Benzema struck a brace of goals as Real Madrid soared on their goal-scoring prowess to thrash Mallorca 6-1 and rose to the top of the table in the Spanish La Liga.
Marco Asensio scored his first hat-trick for Real Madrid on Wednesday against Mallorca, his boyhood club, as Madrid cruised to a 6-1 win to go top of La Liga. Karim Benzema capitalised on an early Mallorca mistake at the Santiago Bernabeu before three goals in five minutes put Madrid 3-1 ahead, two Asensio strikes coming either side of a curling effort from Mallorca’s Lee Kang-in. Asensio completed his treble with a bending shot of his own in the second half and went off to a standing ovation, leaving Benzema to add his second and Isco to tap in Madrid’s sixth late on. Benzema’s second goal was his 200th in La Liga, making him only the 10th player to reach the milestone.

“Clearly Karim is playing very well,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “Not just himself but for the team. He is a complete striker.”
Victory lifts Real Madrid two points clear of Atletico at the top of La Liga, with Sevilla up to third after they had earlier eased past Valencia 3-1.

Asensio was born in Palma and began playing for Mallorca aged 10, only to join Real Madrid in 2016.

He declined to celebrate any of his three goals but will have made an impression on Ancelotti, who was giving the 25-year-old his first start of the season.

“Asensio did very well. It is true that from that position he can hurt the opponent, between the lines he has a lot of quality,” Ancelotti said.