Cristiano Ronaldo sets unique new record by making second Manchester United debut against Newcastle

[ad_1]

Will Cristiano Ronaldo hit the ground running at Manchester United? That was a silly question, wasn’t it?

The 36-year-old made a fool of any doubters as he marked his second Red Devils debut in the only way he knows how – with goals. Two of them, in fact.

getty

Ronaldo has started his second spell at Manchester United just how he left 12 years ago – on fire

Fans will be hoping for more of these scenes at OId Trafford

Ronaldo has made a career out of smashing records, with his most recent coming while playing for Portugal when he became international football’s top scoring player.

And now he can add another to his CV after being selected to start against Newcastle by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

His Old Trafford return sees Ronaldo set a new record for the longest gap between appearances in Premier League history at 12 years and 118 days.

Ronaldo’s last appearance in England’s top flight was in May 2009, against Arsenal, before he sealed an £80million transfer to Real Madrid where he became the global superstar he is today.

He left there in 2018 for Juventus and in the recent transfer window completed his blockbuster return to Old Trafford.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed he will play against Newcastle

Old Trafford is set to be packed to see the legend’s return

The United star scored 118 goals during his first spell for the club, though his last Premier League goal came 12 years and 124 days ago, against Manchester City in May 2009.

After capping his return with a fine double – you’d have been mad to have bet against him – only one player has ever had a longer gap between Premier League goals – Matt Jackson (13 years and 187 days between May 1993 and November 2006).

Ronaldo has also scored 48 hat-tricks in all competitions in his club career and the first of these came against Newcastle, in a Premier League match in January 2008.

He was so close to a remarkable feat of netting another trio of goals against the Magpies, but he’ll have to be satisfied with just the two.

United are a different side to the one he left all those years ago, but his return, plus the arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane, is going to increase expectation to win trophies, with the title being top of the list.

Both player and fans will hope the reunion can bring back the good times

Ronaldo made it clear he is returning to Old Trafford to win trophies, and said after his brilliant return against Newcastle: “I’m here to win games and to help the team. I was very nervous but maybe it didn’t show. The reception was incredible.

“This club is unbelievable. I feel so proud and I’m going to give them everything to make them [the fans] proud of me.

“Football in England is different to any part of the world. I’ve played everywhere but, to be honest, England is the most special one.

“I belong to Manchester. I arrived here at 18 and they treated me unbelievably. This is why I’ve come back. I’m so proud to be here and I want to win.

“We have a fantastic team, a young team, with a fantastic coach. But we have to build up confidence and the team needs to be mature if we want to win the League and the Champions League.”