Benzema bags 1st-half brace to end barren La Liga run

Karim Benzema stepped up in the absence of injured superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring twice in the first 25 minutes of Saturday's match against Eibar.

Without a tally in his previous seven league fixtures, the Frenchman ended his worst domestic scoreless streak in nearly three years.

The Frenchman followed up his own rebound to dispatch the opening goal, and swept home his second after a tempting free-kick delivery from teammate James Rodriguez.

The Colombian added a third on 32 minutes to put the visitor well ahead of the host.