( CNN ) -- Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice on his return from a ban as Real Madrid cut the gap on Spanish leaders Barcelona to two points with a 3-0 victory at bottom club Xerez on Saturday night . The world 's most expensive player , who scored twice before being sent off in his previous outing against Malaga last month , also hit the crossbar as Real scored all their goals in the final half-hour . Defender Alvaro Arbeloa broke the deadlock in the 64th minute with a low shot past the Andalusians ' goalkeeper Renan Brito before Ronaldo made up for a series of misses . The Portugal forward , who headed against the bar just before halftime , made it 2-0 with 20 minutes to play when he headed home from a cross by Kaka after his fellow expensive pre-season signing drove to the by-line . The Brazil playmaker also set up Ronaldo 's second goal a minute later when he selflessly squared the ball to his teammate . The result put Manuel Pellegrini 's Real team on 53 points from 22 matches ahead of champions Barcelona 's trip to Atletico Madrid on Sunday . Xerez look set for an immediate return to the second division , having earned just 11 points so far this season . Third-placed Valencia lost ground after being held to a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijon , needing a second-half equalizer from Juan Mata . The mid-table Asturians , who had lost their last four games , took the lead in just the fifth minute when midfielder Diego Castro smashed a drive into the top of the net following a corner . But Valencia , held 2-2 by Sporting earlier this season , hit back as Carlos Marchena and former Gijon player David Villa hit the woodwork . Mata earned a point with 14 minutes left as he gathered a long pass from Ever Banega and slotted past onrushing goalkeeper Juan Pablo . Villarreal gave new coach Juan Carlos Garrido victory in his first home match in charge , defeating seventh-placed Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in a stormy game which saw four red cards handed out and a missed penalty . Joan Capdevila and Nilmar scored in the first half for the home side , who lost 1-0 at Real Mallorca in Garrido 's first outing , with Igor Gabilondo having leveled for Bilbao in the 24th minute . The match erupted in the final minutes as Andoni Iraola had his weak penalty saved by Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez , then Javi Martinez and Diego Godin were sent off following an ugly episode of infringements and Athletic coach Joaquin Caparros was also red-carded in the aftermath . Bilbao ended the game with nine men after Pablo Orbaiz was ordered off after an incident with Ariel Ibagaza . In Italy , Roma returned to second place in Serie A with a 4-1 thrashing of Palermo on Saturday . Cesare Bovo 's 33rd-minute own-goal put Claudio Ranieri 's team ahead at halftime , then goals from Brazilian Julio Baptista and Matteo Brighi made it 3-0 with less than half an hour to play . Sixth-placed Palermo hit back with an 80th-minute penalty to Fabrizio Miccoli , but Norway defender Jon-Arne Riise sealed victory with a superb strike that left the Giallorossi six points behind leaders Inter Milan , who travel to fifth-placed Napoli on Sunday . Fourth-placed Sampdoria climbed to within six points of third-placed AC Milan , who won 3-2 at Udinese on Friday , after a 2-0 home win against Fiorentina . First-half goals from Franco Semioli and Giampaolo Pazzini , against his former club , left Fiorentina in 11th place ahead of Wednesday 's Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich .
Cristiano Ronaldo nets twice as Real Madrid cut gap on Spanish leaders Barcelona . Second-placed Real win 3-0 at bottom club Xerez to be two points behind champions Barca . Third-placed Valencia lose ground following 1-1 draw away to Sporting Gijon . Roma return to second place in Italy 's Serie A with 4-1 thrashing of Palermo .