Ronaldo continues incredible 19-year record against Spurs with fantastic hat-trick

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 12 Mar 2022 13:27 CST
• 4 min read

Manchester United had one man to thank for their result against Tottenham Hotspur and that was Cristiano Ronaldo.

Although Jadon Sancho certainly put on an impressive performance against Spurs, it was the Portugal international that struck with three exceptional goals on the night.

The first came just 12 minutes into the match, when Ronaldo was afforded the time and space to line up a shot from 35 yards out, which wizzed into the top left corner of the Tottenham goal completely unopposed.

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Tottenham were allowed to pull a goal back from the penalty spot, when Diogo Dalot was deemed to have handled the ball in the box, but Roanldo then struck again three minutes after that when he latched on to a low cross from Sancho to double Man Utd’s lead just before the break.

Spurs were then offered a life line late on in the second half when Harry Maguire stuck the ball in the back of his own net to level the scoring, but thanfully for the Old Trafford side Roanldo was more than happy to step up and bag a hat-trick and a match-winning goal when he headed home to make it 3-2 in the 81st minute.

In the end, it was a crucial performance from Ronaldo in a vitally important game. But what’s perhaps even more impressive is that his goals continue a record that the forward has kept going for more than 18 years.

What is Ronaldo’s record against Tottenham?

Although Man Utd aren’t quite the all-conquering side they once were during Ronaldo’s first stint at the club, Saturday’s win over the North London side continued an impressive trend that has remained intact since 2003.

Indeed, over the course of his career, Ronaldo has now played Spurs no less than 20 times in a number of competitions for both Real Madrid and Man Utd and more often than not he has tended to have the last laugh.

For example, since 2003, the Portugal international has played Tottenham 20 times and over the course of that stretch he has only been on the losing side once. And in terms of getting results against Spurs, Ronaldo’s teams have won 14 games and drawn five.

The only time Ronaldo has lost to Tottenham came in 2017, when his Madrid side were beaten 3-1 in London by Tottenham in what was, in truth, a rather inconsequential match.

However, remarkably, when we narrow Ronaldo’s record against Man Utd down to just his games against the club while playing for the Old Trafford side, he has an unbeaten run that now stretches to sixteen games.

While Ronaldo may not be the player he once was, he certainly showed on Saturday that he’s in no mood to allow his record against Spurs to diminish.