Ronaldo's 23rd hat-trick delights Real

Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a record 23rd La Liga hat-trick to guide leaders Real Madrid to a victory over Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

It also helped the European champions extend their club record winning streak to 18 matches in all competitions and equal the record run of victories set by Barcelona between October 2005 and January 2006.

Elsewhere, a ferocious drive by Jose Maria Gimenez set Atletico Madrid on the way to a 2-0 triumph at Elche that lifted them into second place.

With his latest treble he overtook greats Alfredo Di Stefano of Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao's Telmo Zarra and he has three more hat-tricks than his present day rival Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

"The statistics he is producing are madness," teammate Sergio Ramos told reporters.

"To be honest it is a privilege to play at Real Madrid with a player like him. You have to invent words to define him. He is beating all the records and is possibly in the best form of his career."

Ronaldo, the inspiration behind Real's blistering form this season, struck the opening goal from the penalty spot nine minutes before the break after he was felled by Jonny Castro.

While Real constantly looked to push forward, they also found it tough against a well-organised Celta.

There was no stopping Ronaldo though as he blasted a volley from the centre of the penalty area after 65 minutes to make it 2-0 before adding a third goal from close range nine minutes from the end.

"To have a player like Cristiano is a big advantage," coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

"He is playing very well at the moment. He has a extraordinary motivation and physically he is at his best."

Real have 36 points from 14 games, four ahead of Atletico and five in front of Barcelona who host Espanyol on Sunday.

Diego Simeone's Atletico side are better known for their aerial threat at set-plays but they showed versatility to work a short corner to centre back Gimenez on the edge of the area and he lashed into the back of the Elche net after 15 minutes.

Mario Mandzukic finished clinically eight minutes into the second half to seal a victory that sees them leapfrog Barcelona, who take on city rivals Espanyol on Sunday.

Ronaldo breaks hat-trick record

Cristiano Ronaldo netted a record 23rd hat-trick in La Liga and his 200th goal in the Spanish top flight as Real Madrid equalled the Spanish record of 18 consecutive wins in all competitions on Saturday.

Ronaldo scored all of his side's goals in a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu to pass the hat-trick record of Telmo Zarra, whose record as La Liga's all-time top goalscorer was recently usurped by Lionel Messi, and the late Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano, who both scored 22 hat-tricks.

And his third goal on the night saw him reach his double century of La Liga goals in just 179 games.

With 18 straight wins, Carlo Ancelotti's side have now matched the record set by Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona team in the 2005/06 season, and will have their chance to create more history on Tuesday when they face Ludogorets Razgrad in their final Champions League group game.

City close gap as Chelsea finally lose

Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday when Papiss Cisse struck twice to stun the Premier League leaders at St James' Park.

Champions Manchester City took full advantage of Chelsea's surprise reverse to cut the gap at the top to three points as Yaya Toure's penalty earned a 1-0 home victory over Everton.

Arsenal's hopes of a third successive win were dashed by a 3-2 defeat at Stoke City, where they trailed 3-0 at halftime. Liverpool were held to a 0-0 home draw by Sunderland, one of three goalless stalemates on Saturday.

Undefeated in 23 matches in all competitions since April's Champions League semifinal against Atletico Madrid, Chelsea proved far from invincible as 10-man Newcastle survived a late barrage to prevent the Londoners creating a club record unbeaten run.

Few could deny Newcastle a deserved win that lifted them to seventh in the table although visiting manager Jose Mourinho said his side were unfortunate.

The hosts lost goalkeeper Rob Elliot to injury at halftime, replaced by young rookie debutant Jak Alnwick, and had to man the barricades with only 10 men when Steven Taylor was dismissed after getting a second yellow card nine minutes from the end.

Substitute Cisse, who replaced Remy Cabella after the break, put Newcastle in front after 57 minutes following a slip by Gary Cahill and struck again on the break 21 minutes later, seconds after Eden Hazard was denied an equaliser by the woodwork.

Didier Drogba's majestic header halved the deficit late on but Newcastle survived six minutes of stoppage time and Chelsea's 14-match unbeaten start to the league season, which had drawn comparisons with the Arsenal 'Invincibles' of 2003-04, was over.

"We were unlucky," said Mourinho who criticised Newcastle's fans and ball boys for wasting time by not returning the ball when it went out of play.

"The best team lost, the team that tried to win lost, but that's football," he told a news conference.

"What's important is that it's the kind of defeat which is easy to accept. I don't like to lose when the referee isn't good...which wasn't the case today."

THREE POINTS

Chelsea now have 36 points from 15 matches, with Manchester City on 33. Southampton have 26 and play their game in hand against fourth-placed Manchester United (25) on Monday.

West Ham United (24) can climb from fifth to third if they beat Swansea City at Upton Park on Sunday.

Manchester City lost 14-goal leading marksman Sergio Aguero because of a left knee injury inside the first five minutes at the Etihad but still had too much for Everton who only came to life late on.

The winning goal was slightly fortuitous as Phil Jagielka's 24th-minute challenge on James Milner was deemed illegal by the referee despite no protests from the City midfielder.

Toure calmly stroked the penalty past keeper Tim Howard and that proved enough to secure three points for the home side who face a vital Champions League clash at AS Roma in midweek.

"It would have been very easy to slip up after seeing the (Chelsea) result and not do our job," said Milner.

"We've played a lot better lately but we need to win these kind of games if we are going to win the title."

Arsenal fell behind to a Peter Crouch goal after 19 seconds at Stoke before Bojan and Jon Walters made it 3-0 by halftime.

Santi Cazorla's penalty and a goal from Aaron Ramsey gave Arsenal hope after the break but the damage was already done for the visitors who had Calum Chambers sent off with 12 minutes to go.

"Once we were 3-0 down we had a mountain to climb. We did climb and we were a bit unlucky," manager Arsene Wenger said.

Skipper Steven Gerrard was left on the bench by manager Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool laboured to a 0-0 draw at Anfield against Sunderland.

He joined the fray after 67 minutes but could not stir the attack into life as Liverpool remained in mid-table.

Queens Park Rangers beat Burnley 2-0 to climb out of the relegation zone. Tottenham Hotspur drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace, as did Hull City with fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion.

City beat Everton to close in on Chelsea

An injury to star striker Sergio Aguero cast a shadow over champion Manchester City's hard-fought 1-0 win over Everton in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Yaya Toure converted a first-half penalty as City cut Chelsea's lead at the top to only three points, but the immediate concern was for top scorer Aguero.

The Argentine appeared in tears after hurting his left knee in the second minute of what proved a dull contest at Etihad Stadium, giving City a major Champions League fitness scare.

City travel to Roma for their decisive final group game on Wednesday. It is already without the suspended Toure while two other key players, Vincent Kompany and David Silva, require fitness tests.

"(Aguero) has a problem in his ligament, in his knee," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said. "We will see tomorrow how serious it is but it's not good news, I don't think he will be able to play next week."

Aguero went down clutching his knee after a challenge by Muhamed Besic.

He limped halfway round the field and headed down the tunnel, leaving City anxiously awaiting news of his condition.

Edin Dzeko, back on the bench after a calf injury, initially seemed the man to take his place but Pellegrini opted to give youngster Jose Pozo a chance in the lone front role.

The loss of Aguero dampened the atmosphere and it was not until the 20th minute that City first seriously threatened but Toure dragged a shot well wide.

The picture changed soon after when referee Andre Marriner pointed to the spot after a coming together between James Milner and Phil Jagielka in the area. Milner went down but quickly got up and did not appear to be looking for a penalty, but Marriner felt he had been impeded. Toure did not argue and rifled home the spot kick.

Chances were few and far between, although Samir Nasri created a good opportunity for City with a nice turn, only for Sylvain Distin to get his head in the way. At the other end Kevin Mirallas had a volley deflected wide as he latched on to Pablo Zabaleta's clearance.

City had another injury scare when Toure hurt his knee, also after being challenged by Besic, but he soon ran it off.

Pozo had a great chance to double the hosts' lead early in the second half after fine work by Milner down the left. The 18-year-old Spaniard looked certain to score as he was picked out in front of goal but Tim Howard, sent the wrong way, somehow saved with his feet.

Samuel Eto'o almost equalised as Everton, with Ross Barkley introduced off the bench, tried to force themselves back into the game.

City sent on Frank Lampard in the hope of finding extra impetus and the veteran midfielder made an instant impact. Lampard picked out Dzeko with a fine crossfield pass and the Bosnian's nod-down fell nicely for Milner - but he miscued his volley.

As the game went into the last 10 minutes England goalkeeper Joe Hart showed why he is reportedly poised to sign a lucrative new deal with a fine one-handed save to keep out a powerful volley from Romelu Lukaku.

Mou defiant despite Chelsea setback

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insisted his side were still the team to beat despite the Premier League leaders seeing their unbeaten start to the season ended by Newcastle United.

Saturday's dramatic 2-1 setback against 10-man Newcastle, their first loss since April, saw Chelsea fall one game short of setting a club-record mark of 24 matches without defeat.

More damagingly, it allowed defending champions Manchester City to close to within three points of Mourinho's side by winning 1-0 at home to Everton.

But the Chelsea manager said he was relaxed after Papiss Cisse's brace condemned his team to a third consecutive defeat on Tyneside.

"We were unlucky and Newcastle had the luck, but I have no complaints towards my players and how they went about the game," said Mourinho, whose side hit back through Didier Drogba.

"It's one defeat, but it's the kind of defeat which I can accept a little more, because I have no problem with the way my players played.

"It would have been so very difficult to go through the season unbeaten as so many people had suggested. But even after this defeat, we have to ask the other 19 teams in the Premier League if they'd like to be in our position? I think they would.

"We were unlucky, that's all. The best team lost. The team that tried to win lost. That's football. It's a lucky day for them, and an unlucky one for us, but that's how it goes sometimes.

"We conceded goals the only time they crossed the halfway line. I don't criticise their approach. You need luck to play that way and win, but they had and I have no problems with that."

Mourinho was unhappy with what he saw as Newcastle's time-wasting tactics, even accusing their ball boys of being part of a strategy to run down the clock during the six minutes of added time.

"We wanted to play more football, but it wasn't possible due to a few things happening that I thought didn't belong to top-level football now," he said.

"The ball comes, then the ball goes and the ball boys run away. The ball disappears, then when the replacement ball comes, the first one comes back as well.

"There should have been more stoppage time, but it's hard for the referee to keep track of."

Victory for Newcastle, who were reduced to 10 men late on after a second yellow card for defender Steven Taylor, was the perfect way for manager Alan Pardew to celebrate his impending fourth anniversary at the club.

"I can't praise my players enough," he said. "We've done the rest of the Premier League a favour by beating Chelsea. We've given everyone a gee-up and made it more interesting.

"It's a two-horse race between Chelsea and Manchester City, but this has made it more interesting."

Rookie goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, 21, came off the bench at halftime for the injured Rob Elliot and played a pivotal role in the win on his senior debut.

"Robbie had been struggling and he hasn't really trained, so Jak was half-prepared to come on," Pardew said.

"He showed nerves of steel and gave me so much confidence watching from the sidelines. He'll definitely win our cool dude award at the Christmas party. He's a north-east hero tonight."

United eye podium place at St Mary's

Louis van Gaal's resurgent Manchester United will have their eyes on third place in the Premier League table when they tackle Ronald Koeman's sputtering Southampton at St Mary's on Monday.

After winning only three of their first seven league games, a run of four consecutive victories has taken United to within touching distance of early-season surprise package Southampton.

Koeman's side shot up the table by winning eight of their nine games between late August and early November, but a draw at Aston Villa and losses to Manchester City and Arsenal extinguished their momentum.

Victory for United will lift them above Southampton into third place and allow Van Gaal's team to close to within eight points of leaders Chelsea, who crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday.

It would also further galvanise United's confidence ahead of next weekend's home game with arch enemies Liverpool, but Van Gaal has warned his players not to get ahead of themselves.

"Southampton play better at this time and have more points at this moment than Liverpool, so I think it's good that we have to play Southampton now," the United manager said.

"I think they have a good squad, a lot of players that I know and who were offered to us. I think they are able to come in the top four, but that's also because I believe in the management of Ronald Koeman and his brother (Erwin)."

Van Gaal's relationship with his fellow Dutchman Koeman provides one of the sub-plots for Monday's game.

Koeman, 51, successfully worked under 63-year-old Van Gaal at Barcelona, but the pair fell out at Ajax in 2004, when Koeman was coach and Van Gaal technical director.

Van Gaal described Koeman as "weak" in his autobiography, but the two men have refused to discuss their relationship in the build-up to the game, with both declaring the matter "private".

Of more pressing concern for Koeman is the spate of injuries that has afflicted his side during their three-game winless run.

Midfielder Jack Cork has been ruled out for six weeks after damaging ankle ligaments during Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Arsenal, while centre-back Toby Alderweireld is a doubt after being forced off by a hamstring problem in the same game.

French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is also doubtful after injuring his right adductor muscle in Southampton's 3-0 loss at home to City, but winger Dusan Tadic has overcome a knock.

Koeman drew confidence from his side's improved display at Arsenal, where they lost to an 89th-minute goal by Alexis Sanchez, but knows that in United they are likely to face another stern examination.

"It's not an easy one because it's Manchester United – a big name with big players – but it's a challenge for us to try to win against them," he said.

"We can't change that we lost the last two games, but we have to understand that we played against big teams. We have to show our qualities."

United will recall captain Wayne Rooney after he missed Tuesday's 2-1 win over Stoke City with a knee problem, but record signing Angel di Maria is likely to miss out again with a hamstring problem.

Southampton's old ground, The Dell, was the scene of some of United's most chastening Premier League defeats, including a 6-3 demolition inspired by Matt Le Tissier in October 1996.

Earlier that year, United lost 3-1 after ditching their grey away kit at halftime because manager Alex Ferguson claimed his players were struggling to pick each other out against the crowd.

United have a better record at St Mary's, however, having won seven and drawn one of the nine games they have played there.

Carroll helps West Ham climb to third

England forward Andy Carroll scored twice in West Ham United's 3-1 victory over Swansea City on Sunday that lifted the London club to third in the Premier League.

The injury-prone Carroll, without a goal since March, headed West Ham level just before halftime after Wilfried Bony had put Swansea ahead against the run of play.

Carroll scored again early in the second half with another dominant header before top scorer Diafra Sakho lashed home a third as West Ham, one of this season's surprise packages, registered their third successive league victory.

Swansea had goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski sent off after 68 minutes for impeding Sakho.

West Ham have 27 points, one ahead of fourth-placed Southampton and two clear of fifth-placed Manchester United who face each other on Monday.

Aston Villa face bottom of the table Leicester City in Sunday's late kick off.