Ronaldo kicks off Man Utd return with remarkable performance against Newcastle

Stefan Bienkowski

• 11 Sept 2021 16:54 BST
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo kicked off his second stint at Manchester United in remarkable form on Saturday with two goals to confirm all three points for his side against Newcastle United.

Many critics argued that the Portugal international may have struggled with the physical nature of the English top flight due to his age, but against a stubborn and defensive opponent the new signing made short work of such fears or theories about his demise.

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On Saturday morning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed suspicions that Ronaldo would slot straight into the Man Utd starting XI, with Mason Greenwood asked to move out right in the traditional 4-2-3-1 formation that the Old Trafford side have tended to play in.

However, any concerns that Ronaldo and Greenwood would struggle to work together were quickly dispelled in the dying moments of the first half, when the young English forward jinked inside from the right wing and fired a shot towards goal. Frederick Woodman managed to get both hands to the shot, but his attempt was spilled across the goal mouth, where Ronaldo was happy to run in and tap the ball into the back of the net.

At half time Man Utd were all smiles and looking good for all three points in Ronaldo’s second debut for the club.

Ronaldo to the rescue

Newcastle did threaten to spoil the party early on in the second half when Javier Manquillo was played through by Allan Saint-Maximin and casually rolled the ball into the bottom left corner, but it seems as though Ronaldo was intent on making sure everything went to plan on the day.

Just six minutes after Newcastle drew level, Luke Shaw produced a signature pass to find the Portugal international inside the penalty area, before Ronaldo then turned towards goal and rifled a low shot into the back of the net.

The new signing may have had some of the limelight stolen from him by compatriot Bruno Fernandes, who confirmed all three points in the 80th minute with a remarkable finish from outside the box to make it three for Man Utd, before Jesse Lingard made it four in the dying moments of the game.

However, in truth it was a day that will be remembered for Ronaldo’s return and how little time it took for him to re-open his account in the Premier League.