With Gareth Bale recovering from the flu and Karim Benzema on the bench, all of Madrid's attack went through Ronaldo on the left flank.
And the Ballon d'Or winner didn't disappoint by unleashing two similar blasts after cutting inside to put the ball on his right boot to take his league-leading tally to 30 goals after 35 matches.
Sergio Ramos scored with a header from close range following Angel Di Maria's cross from the right to make it 3-0 after an hour, after which Ronaldo came off to rest up for the Champions League semifinal second leg on Tuesday.
Before the end, Isco provided a ball for Daniel Carvajal to loop home with his head as Madrid provisionally closed to within three points of leaders Atletico Madrid. Real with have a game in hand on Atletico after Sunday's matches.
A minute's silence was held for former Barcelona coach Vilanova before the days' matches, and also before Bayern's home game against Werder Bremen, with Bayern players wearing black armbands.
Barcelona have declared three days of mourning for Vilanova, whose funeral will be on Monday in Barcelona's cathedral.
Getafe's 1-0 win over Malaga condemned last-placed Real Betis to relegation.
Adrian Colunga scored what proved to be the winner seven minutes into the match at Getafe from a pass by Ciprian Marica, who then left his side a man down from the 37th minute after a second yellow card.
But Malaga couldn't take advantage of the extra man and lost a player themselves when Marcos Angeleri was sent off for a second booking in the 76th minute.
Getafe's second win in 2014 lifted them out of the relegation zone, and left Betis in last place and 13 points from safety with only four games to play.
Real Sociedad booked their place in the Europa League for next season as they won 1-0 to rub in the misery for Real Betis, who learned of their relegation before kick-off.
Sociedad were hardly at their best, but did enough to take advantage thanks to Carlos Vela's penalty early in the second half.
The win puts them 12 points clear of Valencia, who have four games remaining but lose out to Sociedad on the head-to-head record.
Rayo Vallecano scored three times in the second half for a 3-0 win at 10-manGranada.
Rayo held Granada in check in the first half before Yacine Brahimi's dismissal for a second yellow card in the 51st minute turned the match in the visitors' favor, with Saul Niguez's long-range strike giving Rayo the lead in the 54th.
Joaquin Larrivey doubled the advantage five minutes later before Sebas Fernandez headed in Rayo's third goal in the 86th minute.
Rayo have climbed from the drop zone to provisionally sit in ninth place with only one loss in their last 10 matches.
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