Wednesday, March 27

Cristiano Ronaldo hits hat-trick to give Manchester United edge over Norwich | premier league


Cometh the hour, cometh Cristiano Ronaldo for seemingly the umpteenth time this season to save Manchester United.

After 75 minutes the score was level and Ralf Rangnick’s side were teetering on the brink of yet another capitulation after holding a two-goal lead. But then Ronaldo smashed a 25-yard free-kick in off Tim Krul’s right post and that was 3-2 – and a second hat-trick since 12 March for a 37-year-old who now has 15 Premier League goals this season.

Until his intervention this contest was being written up as the latest surrender of a sorry season from Rangnick’s band. Today’s theme had been lax marking and errant defensive positioning: both Kieran Dowell and Teemu Pukki benefited from amateurish execution of basic tenets of the game.

Norwich deserved maximum credit for their fightback from a 2-0 deficit and the result was heading for the last thing United needed after the dire 1-0 loss at Everton, especially against the backdrop of renewed protests against the Glazer family’s ownership that began before kick -off. But Ronaldo’s supreme career is built on him penning the narrative and, with Arsenal losing at Southampton, United are up to fifth and three points behind Tottenham, who were also defeated on Saturday.

What ended in the right result for United had also begun brightly in late spring sunshine. They were in control precisely as they should be against the league’s bottom-placed side who arrived here seven points from safety. There was a hogging of possession that fluttered about 62% in the first half and, most vitally, there were goals.

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The first came on seven minutes. United fanned out to pressure to restart from Krul. I have tapped the ball to Ben Gibson who fed it to Dimitris Giannoulis. The left-back returned it but Gibson dawdled, was pilfered by Anthony Elanga and when the youngster passed to Ronaldo he rolled home. Cue the latter and former doing Ronaldo’s trademark jump-and-turn celebration to cries of “siuuu” from jubilant fans hailing their Portuguese hero.

The opener was a function of Elanga’s hunger to hunt the ball down. United’s second came from a corner and was close to a carbon copy of Ronaldo’s late winner against Tottenham, which came from the same brute strength and aerial prowess on display here. Alex Telles, in for Luke Shaw who may not return from injury until next season, flighted over a corner from the right and Ronaldo’s leap was the familiar one: an almost cartoonish show of power and height as the hapless Gibson was bulldozed aside and Krul was beaten eleven more.

It gave United a cushion that, surely, would allow them to pitter-patter passes around, move their opponent out of position, accumulate more goals and clinch a confidence-boosting victory. A sweet sequence that featured the type of football that has been largely awol this term emphasized that feeling: Paul Pogba curved a ball right that hit Elanga, he switched it left to Jadon Sancho and his dazzling feet allowed him to go close to creating a third for Ronaldo.

Yet by the 52nd minute United had been exposed twice. First Pukki fashioned a one-two with Giannoulis that punched holes in the home defense. The Finn popped over a cross and Dowell headed in. Next came a role reversal: the No 10 passed beyond Victor Lindelöf to Pukki, who stepped forward to pinball the equalizer in off David de Gea’s left post.

Teemu Pukki celebrates after scoring Norwich’s second goal against Manchester United. Photograph: Paul Currie/Shutterstock

This collapse was United’s season in microcosm and the question was what might follow from the protesters if the score remained or became worse for Rangnick’s men. Throughout choruses of “we want Glazers out” and “you’re not fit to wear the shirt”, as well as chants directed at Pogba when he was substituted, were heard.

Ronaldo, though, had the final word.


www.theguardian.com

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