Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th competitive Real Madrid goal as they beat Rayo Vallecano to stay four points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona. Real had goalkeeper Iker Casillas to thank for being level at the break after being outplayed. Gareth Bale’s diving header was just wide after the break for the improved visitors before Ronaldo was denied a clear penalty. Ronaldo finally headed home before James Rodriguez curled in a second. The Portuguese’s 300 Real goals have come in 288 games since joining from Manchester United for £80m in 2009. He is the third player after Raul (323) and Alfredo Di Stefano (307) to reach 300 goals for Real. His rivals needed 741 and 396 matches respectively to reach that mark.