After being left out of the starting XI in Manchester United’s last game against Chelsea, star forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Arsenal on Thursday night, December 2, surpassing the 800-goal mark for his career in an all-important 3-2 win.
The win lifts Man United to seventh place in the Premier League standings (21 points), just two points behind Arsenal (5th place, 23 points) and three points out of the all-important fourth-place champions league spot.
Manchester United fell behind in the match to a goal scored by Emile Smith Rowe who shot on goal while Man United goalkeeper David De Gea was down injured on the ground. The goal was initially disallowed, but the VAR reviewed it and saw that it was a teammate who injured De Gea.
United then scored a timely equalizer just before halftime when Bruno Fernandes pounced on a cross and a sweet pass from Fred to put the ball into the back of the net and make it 1-1.
Both teams started the second half strong and exchanged goals inside the first 10 minutes with Ronaldo scoring first — the 800th of his career for both club and country and then Martin Odegaard scoring for the Gunners.
The game-winner came on a 70th-minute penalty kick, after Fred – who was hardworking all though the match – got fouled in the penalty area.
Ronaldo stepped up and played the penalty into the net.
Manchester United will now kick off a new era under interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who watched from the stands and will take over training on Friday, December 3.
Caretaker Michael Carrick served as manager against Arsenal, his third and final match in charge after the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He didn’t lose in three games, with two wins and a draw against Chelsea.
