(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi continued their hot goalscoring runs as Real Madrid and Barcelona moved ominously clear of their La Liga rivals in Spain on Saturday night.
Ronaldo followed up his four strikes from last weekend with another two as Real came from behind to beat Hercules 3-1 and stay a point clear of second-placed champions Barcelona.
Third-placed Villarreal trail Real by four points ahead of Sunday's trip to Sporting Gijon.
Real, held 0-0 by third-division Murcia in the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, looked like suffering another humiliation after going behind only three minutes into the game in Alicante -- the first time the Galacticos have trailed in Jose Mourinho's first season as coach.
Former France World Cup winner David Trezeguet headed home David Cortes' right-wing cross to continue his good scoring run since joining from Italian club Juventus as promoted Hercules raised hopes of repeating their upset wins over Barca and Sevilla earlier this season.
But Real's depth in attacking strength finally told seven minutes after halftime, when Angel Di Maria followed up to equalize after goalkeeper Juan Calatayud failed to deal with Ronaldo's long-range dipping shot.
The world's most expensive player wrapped up Real's seventh win in nine league starts with two late goals in the space of three minutes.
Both came after Mourinho took off central defender and introduced Karim Benzema, with Ronaldo pouncing from close range after the France forward's shot was blocked by Calatayud.
The Portugal forward then took his tally to 11 goals this season after Benzema broke down the right and cut back a perfect low pass.
Messi has 14 goals in 12 appearances following his double inBarcelona's 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Sevilla, who were left in sixth place -- nine points off the lead.
The Argentina forward forced a shot home in the fourth minute as Sevilla struggled to keep Barca at bay, and netted a fine individual effort on 67 after winning the ball just inside the visitors' half.
Spain striker David Villa ended his recent goal drought as he also scored a double. The first came in the 24th minute as he collected Messi's pass, cut in from the right and curled a superb shot into the far corner. The second was the last kick of the match -- a low, angled drive.
Sevilla's task became mammoth when French defender Abdoulay Konko was harshly sent off just before halftime, having received two bookings in the space of three minutes.
Dani Alves extended Barcelona's lead eight minutes after the interval with a superb opportunist effort as he anticipated Ivory Coast midfielder Romaric's headed backpass and leaped to volley the ball over goalkeeper Javi Varas.
In Saturday's opening match, Valencia lost ground on the leading duo with a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Real Zaragoza.
CNN
