Cristiano Ronaldo single-handedly guided Manchester United to victory over Tottenham Hotspur, scoring a scintillating hat-trick at the expense of Antonio Conte’s side. Ronaldo netted thrice at Old Trafford on Saturday to give the home fans something to cheer about ahead of United’s crucial Champions League second leg tie with Atlético Madrid on Tuesday.
Ronaldo’s first hat-trick since returning to Manchester last summer came 14 years after he took home his first match ball in a United jersey. Despite having scored a hat-trick just twice in United colours, Ronaldo’s triple haul versus Tottenham was his 59th hat-trick at club level and he has now scored three times in one game in each of the last 13 calendar years.
3 – Cristiano Ronaldo’s three goals yesterday put Manchester United 1-0, 2-1 and finally 3-2 ahead against Tottenham; he was the first player ever to give the Red Devils the lead three times in a single Premier League game. Heroic. pic.twitter.com/E2StuMDUmv
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 13, 2022
Following a sensational display by Ronaldo, the Portuguese has now scored 807 goals throughout his career for club and country – making him football’s leading goalscorer of all-time. Ronaldo’s second goal on Saturday saw him surpass the 805 career goals scored by the late Austrian-Czech striker Josef Bican, whose 25-year career spanned from 1931-1955.
To date, Ronaldo has scored 136 goals for Man United, 450 for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus, and 5 for Sporting Lisbon – equaling a total 692 at club level – as well as 115 for the Portugal national team. Ronaldo’s 115 goals for the Portugal Seleção is the most international goals scored by any men’s player in history. A few other world records held by Ronaldo include most goals scored in the UEFA Champions League (140), most goals scored in the UCL knockout stages (67), and most goals scored in a Champions League season (17). He has also won the Champions League on five occasions, more than any other player, and is the only player to have scored in three Champions League Finals.
Man United will be relying on the prowess of Ronaldo if they are to have any chance of overcoming Atlético Madrid and reaching the quarter-finals in the Champions League. United’s 2021/22 campaign has not been too kind to them and the Champions League represents their last possible chance of capturing silverware this season. Ronaldo is by no means a stranger to Los Rojiblancos and he has registered 34 goal involvements in 36 appearances versus his former Madrid rivals. Sevilla are the only team which Ronaldo has scored more goals against (27) other than Atlético (25).
Prior to his hat-trick against Spurs, Ronaldo had been struggling for goals in 2022 with his only other strike this year coming against Brighton on 15 February. Despite failing to score in eight of his ten league games since the turn of the year, Ronaldo remains United’s top scorer this season with 18 goals from 31 games in the Premier League and Champions League. Ronaldo has netted 12 league goals and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is the only player to have scored more Premier League goals this season.
The unanswered questions which remain are how long can Ronaldo continue at this level, and where will the 37-year-old be playing his football come next season? United are in dire need to clear the decks and continue with their rebuild in the upcoming summer and there have been widespread rumours that the Portugal man (together with a host of other players) could leave the Manchester club at the end of the season, especially if the Red Devils fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
A huge determining factor in which players will stay and who will leave hinges on the next manager to walk through the doors at Old Trafford. Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag appear to be the frontrunners to take over the United hot-seat but nothing is for certain. United are in search of their fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired nine years ago.
