Real Madrid kept their La Liga title challenge alive with a 4-2 win at Celta Vigo on Sunday evening.

Celta opened the scoring through Nolito after just nine minutes, but goals from Toni Kroos and Javier Hernandez saw Real Madrid lead with 24 minutes on the clock.

The home side were back on terms just four minutes later when Santi Mina converted, but that was not the end of the first-half scoring, with James Rodriguez netting after 44 minutes to send the away side ahead.

Hernandez then added his second of the evening in the 69th minute as Real Madrid won 4-2 in Vigo.

The visitors are once again two points behind the leaders Barcelona, while Celta remain ninth.

Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action in Vigo.

Match statistics

CELTA
Shots: 19
On target: 4
Possession: 54%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 17

REAL MADRID
Shots: 10
On target: 7
Possession: 46%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 6

Was the result fair?

Statistics rarely paint a false picture, especially in football, and the fact that Celta had more possession and more attempts is an indication that they were unfortunate to lose in Vigo. That is an argument that carries some weight, but when reviewing the match as a whole and taking into account what actually occurred, Real Madrid did deserve to record all the points. It was an incredible first period, with five goals in total and two teams that were prepared to attack whenever possible.

Celta actually bossed the early stages of the second period, but they left themselves open to the counter-attack and it was always likely that Real Madrid would score the game's sixth goal. The hosts will point to a strong penalty shout that occurred when the score was still 3-2, but Real Madrid had three more attempts on target in Vigo and on balance, deserved to claim all the points. A two-goal separation is perhaps a little harsh, but the correct team did emerge victorious this time around.

Celta's performance

Following a decent run of form, Celta boss Eduardo Berizzo named an unchanged XI for the third straight league game, which meant there were spots for Nolito, Mina, Fabian Orellana and Joaquin Larrivey - a clear indication that Berizzo wanted to attack rather than attempt to consolidate. It certainly worked in the early moments and the home side were ahead after nine minutes when Nolito fired one into the bottom corner. At that point, the hosts needed to settle on the ball, but they let Real Madrid back in to level the scores after 16 minutes, before Hernandez made it 2-1 eight minutes later. The visitors appeared in control at that stage, but Celta continued to press high and equalised through Mina. As a result, 28 minutes of football had brought four goals and the suggestions were that the scoring was a long way from being finished.

Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post after 41 minutes, before the visitors had the game's decisive goal through James in the 44th minute. In fairness to Celta, they emerged as the better team in the second period, with Hugo Mallo and Nolito both coming close, while Michael Krohn-Dehli was causing problems from a deep position. A host of free kicks continued to cause Real Madrid problems, but they left themselves open to the counter and were punished with 20 minutes remaining. The away side's fourth was a real killer and in truth, Celta's challenge ended when Hernandez completed his brace. As expected, it was another high-tempo and impressive performance from Berizzo's side, but they were just a little too open at the back.

Real Madrid's performance

With Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema still on the sidelines, there were no real surprises in the XI, with Hernandez keeping his spot in the final third. Both Marcelo and Asier Illarramendi returned, meanwhile, with Sergio Ramos dropping to centre-back. As touched upon, it was hardly the ideal start for Los Blancos, but they found their groove as the game developed and scored a couple of super goals to take the lead. More poor defending contributed to Celta's second as Mina was allowed to break through before hitting the post and converting the rebound, but the away side always offered the impression that they would score more goals on the counter, such was Celta's willingness to commit numbers forward. That occurred late in the half when James's deflected effort found the bottom corner to send the visitors 3-2 ahead.

As touched upon, Real Madrid had to survive a period of pressure in the early stages of the second period, while Celta had a strong penalty claim when Orellana went down under a challenge from Kroos, but the referee was not interested. Carlo Ancelotti's side were far from solid at the back, but in Ronaldo and Hernandez, they had pace and movement on the counter. It was the latter's movement that brought their fourth goal as the striker collected a pass from Ramos before finding the bottom corner. In many ways, it was an untidy performance from the visitors, especially in the middle of the park, but at this stage of the season, it is wins that are most important. Scoring four goals at the Balaidos is also an impressive achievement.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Javier Hernandez: The Mexican was the hero against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals during the week and he came up trumps again in Vigo. The on-loan Manchester United forward has been crying out for a regular run this season and Benzema's injury has allowed that to occur. Hernandez struck two goals against Celta and both were excellent finishes. He also linked well with Ronaldo and James - making a strong case to keep Benzema out of the team when the Frenchman returns.

Biggest gaffe

Referee Pedro Perez had a pretty good game overall, but he really should have awarded Celta a second-half penalty. Orellana burst into the Real Madrid box before going down under a challenge from Kroos, but Perez was not interested and waved play on. There was not much contact, but it was clumsy from the German international and a foul that should have been recognised. A goal at that stage would have levelled the scores at 3-3 and placed an entirely different complexion on the game.

Referee performance

As mentioned, Perez dropped a bit of a clanger when he failed to award Celta a penalty, but overall, the Spaniard had a solid 90 minutes. He did not issue a single yellow card in the first period, but was forced to dip into his pocket on five occasions in the second half. Three of those cards arrived in the final five minutes, however, when there were a host of unsavoury incidents between both sets of players.

What next?

Celta: Next up for Celta is a home match against Malaga on Wednesday.

Real Madrid: Los Blancos will welcome Almeria to the Bernabeu on Wednesday.