wicked.football

Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick has admitted it is a ‘challenge’ to manage Cristiano Ronaldo, although he also lauded the forward following his hat-trick against Tottenham.

Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a brilliant strike from far out. That goal saw him equalise FIFA’s official all-time goalscoring record of 805, which was previously held by Josef Bican.

United were pegged back in the 35th minute when Harry Kane netted a spot-kick, following Alex Telles’ hand ball.

Ronaldo then overtook Bican in the goalscoring charts by finishing off a swift move from the Red Devils.

But they once again showed defensive frailty when Harry Maguire sent a Sergio Reguilon cross into his own net.

Inevitably, it was Ronaldo who had the final say at Old Trafford as he headed past Hugo Lloris in the 81st minute – completing his hat-trick and gifting United all the spoils (our Player Ratings are available here).

Rangnick told Sky Sports (via BBC Sport) after the match: “[Ronaldo] was also energetic today. He was part of the whole team when we had to defend, because we had to defend a lot. It was a top performance by him, but also by the rest of the team.

Ralf Rangnick surprised by Ronaldo hat-trick

“I didn’t expect him to score three goals, but I expected him to score. That’s why I decided to play him. His training session was so good on Thursday that I decided to start him and not bring him from the bench. I spoke to him before training on Friday and he said his hip flexor was good enough to play.

“Coming back after two goals showed we had the right mentality. We deserved to win. The performance was aggressive enough at least. We showed the desire to win that game. I said before the game, the team who wants it more will be successful.”

Rangnick went on to make a surprise claim about the Portuguese superstar. “It’s a challenge with a player like Ronaldo,” the manager said. “But he showed today that he still has the quality to play for a club like Manchester United. He also has the quality to be part of the team, and if we want to be successful at the end of the season that’s what we need.”

During a separate interview with BBC Sport, Ralf Rangnick said about Ronaldo: “Today it was his best performance, at least since I arrived. He was good in training on Thursday and that is why I decided to start him. Fantastic performance by him but also by the rest of the team.

“It was probably our best performance bearing in mind the quality of the opponents. It was necessary, we had to win the game and it will give us a boost for our next game.”

How does Kylian Mbappe compare to where Lionel Messi was at 23?

Paul Pogba hails team-mate

Paul Pogba told Sky Sports after the win: “Ronaldo was brilliant. I think that’s all we needed – a reaction. We scored beautiful goals. Even when we conceded a goal, we came back and scored again. The mentality was there again today.

“Everybody knows Cristiano – there’s no need to talk about him. That’s what he does. He didn’t play in the last game, but he comes back and scores three goals. Everybody’s happy.

“It was good today. You can hear the fans – they were pushing us and feeling it. I think today was a very good performance as a team and a very good reaction from the City game.

“We kept believing. In the second half we didn’t get the nice passing, and the movement I think wasn’t there. We gave them a bit of confidence, that’s why they scored. But we got a corner and scored the winning goal.

“It’s a boost. We needed it to go again. We want the top four and they were opponents who are looking for the top four also. It was a good win and a good performance.”

READ MORE: Man Utd ‘monitored’ European coach to replace Solskjaer before Rangnick appointment – report

The post Ralf Rangnick admits ‘challenge’ when managing Ronaldo, makes ‘best performance’ claim appeared first on TEAMtalk.