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Madrid suffered its first away defeat of the 2017-2018 season at Montilivi and it looked set to be another uncomfortable outing when Borja Garcia gave the home side the lead after 16 minutes.

Madrid turned the scoreline on its head with the help of careless tackles from Marc Muniesa and Pere Pons, allowing Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema to convert a spot-kick apiece either side of the break.

Bale added a third in the 59th minute, with Benzema making absolutely sure of the win with a goal that puts Madrid above rivals Barcelona after two matches of the LaLiga campaign.

It was Madrid which made the early running, with Benzema finding the net after eight minutes only to be denied by the offside flag.

Isco could not sort his feet out in time to apply the finish to a squared Marco Asensio pass and Girona punished the visitors for their profligacy with the opening goal.

Anthony Lozano's shot was blocked in the box, but the ball fell kindly for Garcia, who kept his cool to turn onto his right foot and fire high into Keylor Navas’s net.

The home side threw away their advantage six minutes from the break, Muniesa bringing down Asensio - who was running away from goal – inside the penalty area.

With Cristiano Ronaldo now gone, spot-kick duties fell to captain Ramos, whose delicate flick down the middle deceived goalkeeper Bono.

Madrid had another chance from the spot seven minutes into the second half - this time Benzema scoring from 12 yards out after Asensio was hacked down by Pons.

Almost an hour had passed by the time Madrid got their first goal from open play, with Bale slotting beyond Bono to stretch his LaLiga scoring run to a career-best six matches.

Benzema's second of the contest arrived 10 minutes from time to put the result beyond doubt, the French striker tucking home a Bale cross to round off the victory.

Madrid will look to maintain its perfect start at home to Leganes, a day after Girona visits Villarreal.