Real Madrid 2-1 Sporting Gijon: Cristiano Ronaldo scores twice in La Liga win

Cristiano Ronaldo sealed a hard-fought victory for La Liga leaders Real Madrid as they saw off an impressive Sporting Gijon side to win 2-1 at the Bernabeu on Saturday and move seven points clear at the top.

Two early goals from the Portuguese gave the hosts what looked to be a comfortable lead, but it was anything but a dominant performance from Zinedine Zidane's men, who lacked their usual quality in both attack and defence.

And Los Blancos, feeling the absence of the injured Gareth Bale, allowed Carlos Carmona acres of space to fire home and pull one back for his side before the interval.

The visitors continually drove forward and had the perfect chance to draw level when they were awarded a late penalty after Nacho brought down Victor Rodriguez, but it was an opportunity wasted when Duje Cop fired his spot-kick into the stands to spare Real's blushes ahead of their visit to Camp Nou in next week's El Clasico.

The home side opened the scoring after five minutes when Isma Lopez sent Lucas Vazquez to ground to concede a penalty which Ronaldo made no mistake with, smashing his spot-kick into the bottom right of the net for his ninth league goal of the season. 

His second came just 13 minutes later when he met a brilliant Nacho cross in from the left with a superb bullet header to double Real's advantage and leave Sporting with what appeared to be a mountain to climb with less than 20 minutes played.

Madrid had the ball in the back of the net again just two minutes later when Nacho slotted home after meeting a sublime overhead kick from Sergio Ramos, but the goal was deemed offside by referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez.

The away side responded well to the early onslaught, creating chances as they showed a great willingness to get forward and pull one back.

And their persistence paid off when Carmona weaved his way into a great position to meet an inviting pass from Lopez, angling the ball past Jesus Navas with the outside of his right foot to bring his side back into the game in the 36th minute.

Ronaldo went in search of a hat-trick, producing a smart save from Diego Marino who got down low to palm the ball to safety minutes before the half-time whistle blew.

The visitors, who came out the stronger of the two sides after the break, created an opening in the 52nd minute when Lopez went on a good run down the flank to advance into the Real box but Cop, at full-stretch, wasn't quite able to get on the end of the low cross.

And it was Sporting who created the lion's share of chances during the second-half, limiting Real's threat in attack as the hosts struggled to create opportunities in the final third.

Gijon were gifted a late lifeline when they were awarded a penalty which, if converted, would have drawn the league strugglers level with just over 20 minutes left to play but it wasn't to be for Abelardo Fernandez's men as Real held on to take all three points.