Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo once again came to Manchester United’s aid at Old Trafford with a superbly-taken equaliser to give the Red Devils a scarcely-deserved draw against Chelsea in the Premier League.
Ronaldo struck just moments after Chelsea had taken a second-half lead through Marcos Alonso, and after the match United interim manager Ralf Rangnick praised the complete performance of the Portugal captain.
Chelsea dominated large parts of the contest, controlling the first half and accumulating 65% possession on the night. The outgoing European champions took the lead on the hour when Alonso found himself free at the back post to volley past David De Gea, but within a couple of minutes Ronaldo replied with an expert touch and finish from Nemanja Matic’s throughball to score his 17th league goal of the season.
CR7 in front of the Stretford End ?
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 28, 2022
? @Cristiano #MUFC | #MUNCHE pic.twitter.com/Qrnd0G1hKx
Rangnick will leave his role at manager at the end of the season, and is expected to be named the new coach of the Austrian national team. However, the German has confirmed his two-year deal to remain at Old Trafford in a consultancy role, and was quick to praise Ronaldo’s performance and appeared positive when asked if the Portuguese could stay under new boss Erik ten Hag.
“[It was] not only the goal he scored today,” Rangnick told Sky Sports. “His whole performance: his attitude; how often he helped in our own half – a player like him, at the age of 37, this is not normal to do that. He showed that and if he plays like he did today, he can still be a great help for this team.
“Next season? In the end it’s both Erik’s and Cris’ decision [about] what they want to do. It’s not for me to speak about that but as I said today the performance of Cris was really great.”
United are next in action against Brentford at Old Trafford on Monday night. Ronaldo is currently joint-second in the Premier League top goalscorers charts with 17 and, while five goals shy of leader Mohamed Salah, the chance to reach the 20-goal barrier with three matches remaining is surely a motivating factor for the Seleção man.
By Sean Gillen
