Saturday 28 / December / 2024
Manchester : Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 50th club hat-trick as Manchester United moved to within three points of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth on the Premier League table with a battling 3-2 victory over Norwich City on Saturday.
The Portuguese scored his first in seven minutes, converting a cross from Anthony Elanga, who had nicked the ball off Ben Gibson. Ronaldo doubled United's lead after 32 minutes, heading in Alex Telles's corner. But Kieran Dowell's header from a Teemu Pukki cross reduced the arrears in first-half added time. Dowell then turned provider to Pukki with a sublime reverse pass to allow the Finn to slot home Norwich's equaliser seven minutes after half-time.
Ronaldo completed his hat-trick to secure the points with a fierce free-kick 14 minutes from time.
Man Utd's first win in three matches takes them above Arsenal to fifth with 54 points. Norwich remain at bottom on 21 points, seven from safety with six matches remaining.
Earlier, a star performance from Fraser Forster and a goal from Jan Bednarek condemned Arsenal to a third consecutive defeat, going down 1-0 at Southampton, which denied them the chance to close the gap on fourth place.
In London, Tottenham Hotspur's hopes of a top-four finish suffered a setback as Leandro Trossard's last-minute goal earned Brighton & Hove Albion a crucial win.
