Video: How Cristiano Ronaldo dived to win a penalty against Celta Vigo

Cristiano Ronaldo appeals to the referee for a foul which was given

On Saturday night, Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to extend their lead at the top of the La Liga table to four points, with Barcelona yet to play their game in hand. The night belonged to Cristiano Ronaldo who set two milestones – most hat-tricks in La Liga (23) and 200 goals in La Liga (in 178 games).

But the record-breaking effort was called into question when it looked like he dived for the first penalty to be awarded.

Ronaldo had made a run into the box with the ball coming in from the left flank. Jonny Castro Otto followed his run and merely put his hand on Ronaldo’s right arm.

But the Portuguese forward initially took one more step, unaffected by the attempt to block him. But as soon as he realized the ball was too high, he immediately collapsed to the ground with zero contact.

The referee pointed to the spot, much to the shock of Castro Otto who was also shown a yellow card. Ronaldo stepped up and calmly put the penalty away to give Real Madrid the lead and eventually a 3-0 win.

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