Zinedine Zidane's dream start to life as Real Madrid boss continued as Los Blancos scored four times in the opening 18 minutes on their way to a 5-1 rout of Sporting Gijon on Sunday. However, Madrid's joy was tempered as Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema both had to be replaced due to injuries.
Bale limped off with what looked like the recurrence of a calf problem just before half-time having scoring his 11th goal in eight games. Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo also scored twice in the first-half before the former picked up a knock in a collision with team-mate James Rodriguez.
Madrid have now scored 35 goals in six games at home since losing to 4-0 to Barcelona in November.
Victory takes Madrid above Barcelona and to within a point of leaders Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga. However, Atletico and Barca are in action later when they face Las Palmas and Athletic Bilbao respectively.
"We played very well in the first-half. We were concentrated and up for the game from the start. We prepared well and are happy with how the match went," said Zidane.
"Karim just has a knock, which isn't so bad. Gareth is a little more complicated because it is his calf and in his left leg which is a problem.