Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick lauded Cristiano Ronaldo’s whole performance in his side’s 3-2 victory over Tottenham, not just his match-winning hat-trick.
With his latest treble, the Portuguese superstar became football’s all-time greatest scorer, bringing his career tally to 807 goals.
He started the score with a piledriver from over 30 yards, before a poacher’s finish put United ahead 2-1 at half-time, and his header ten minutes from time secured a crucial victory in the hunt for a Champions League ticket.
Rangnick, however, was keen to bring out Ronaldo’s other contributions to Saturday’s victory.
“Since I arrived, this was his best performance. Not only because he scored three goals – two brilliant goals, plus the second was a perfect vertical ball from Nemanja Matic and the best possible box square from Jadon [Sancho] – but he was also energetically good really today,” Rangnick told Sky Sports.
“He was part of the whole team. We had to defend and we had to defend a lot, so a top performance by him but also by the rest of the team.
“I didn’t expect him to score three goals but I expected him to score! That’s why I decided to play him, although he only resumed training on Thursday. But his training session on Thursday was so good that I decided to bring him from the start and not have him on the bench. In the end, it was the right decision.”
With a win, United jump back into the top four, despite having played four more games than fifth-placed Arsenal, who are two points behind them.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo is currently tied for second position in the Premier League’s top scorer rankings with Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane with 12 goals.
