March 12, (THEWILL) – Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero in Manchester United’s 3-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at OldTrafford on Saturday. The new all-time leading scorer in football scored all of his side’s three goals to secure all three points.
Spurs got behind United’s defence twice in the first five minutes, with Son Heung-min at the heart of it both times. After failing to beat David de Gea to a long ball, the South Korean’s dangerous drive down the left flank was well stopped by United’s defence.
It was United that drew first blood though, with 12 minutes of football played. Ronaldo, who had returned to the team after missing their last game, blasted a devastating shot from 25 yards that sailed into Hugo Lloris’ top corner.
Soon later, Paul Pogba attempted to do the same, but was unable to bend his strike inside the posts of his fellow Frenchman.
Five minutes later, Tottenham believed they had tied the game when Ben Davies tucked home through De Gea, but the assistant referee promptly raised his offside flag after noticing the Welshman had mistimed his run.
Spurs continued to try for a way back into the game, and Diogo Dalot had to be quick to clear an Eric Dier header off the line. Spurs’ pressure paid off 33 minutes in when Dejan Kulusevski’s cross was fumbled in the penalty box by Alex Telles, and Harry Kane stepped up to score a deserved equaliser from 12 yards.
But just a few minutes later, United were back ahead. Poor defending allowed Jadon Sancho to get onside, and the winger’s cut-back to Ronaldo for an easy goal to get the Portuguese star his brace, and United led 2-1 at halftime.
In the second half, both teams continued to trade tackles, with Son getting the first serious chance. He was able to get some space in the box, but he was only able to drag his effort wide.
Spurs still got their equaliser with 20 minutes remaining. Harry Maguire’s desperation dive to deny Sergio Reguilon’s cross resulted in the cross being deflected into his own net.
Ronaldo nearly bagged his hat-trick shortly after when he toe-poked a clever effort towards Lloris, but the goalkeeper did well to reach down and keep it out.
Nine minutes from time, and fortunately for the beleaguered Maguire, the record-breaking goal-scorer got his first hat-trick since rejoining United. Ronaldo beat Doherty to a corner with a superb leap from a corner, and Lloris had no chance.
The tempo remained high until the final minute, but United stood firm in defence and held Spurs at bay, scoring a huge victory in their quest for Champions League football.
With the hattrick, Ronaldo now has 806 goals for club and country, the highest ever in official professional football games.
The hattrick was his first since January 2008. His two trebles were separated by 14 years and 59 days, the greatest gap in Premier League history between hattricks for a player.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
