Appearing in his first match for Manchester United since 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo electrified the home crowd at Old Trafford by scoring twice in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United.
Manchester United completed the signing of Ronaldo from Juventus last month, and it didn’t take long for the superstar striker from Portugal to make an impact.
During stoppage time in the first half, Ronaldo deposited a rebound off a shot from Mason Greenwood into the back of the net to give the Red Devils a 1-0 lead:
That marked Ronaldo’s first goal for Manchester United and in English Premier League play in 4,507 days.
OptaJoe noted that the 12-year, 124-day gap in between EPL goals was the second-longest in the history of the league by any player:
The Premier League provided a different angle of the moment Ronaldo announced his return to the EPL with a goal:
In addition to nearly making history for the longest time between EPL goals, Ronaldo became one of the oldest players to ever score a goal for Manchester United at 36:
With the 119th goal of his Manchester United career and his 675th career goal overall, Ronaldo helped United enter the locker room with a 1-0 lead at halftime.
Manchester United had all the momentum after one half of play, but Newcastle looked to play spoiler, and it appeared as though it would for a short period of time.
In the 56th minute, Javier Manquillo netted the equalizer when he beat United goalkeeper David de Gea off a beautiful run down the right wing:
That took some of the air out of the Old Trafford faithful, but it wasn’t long before CR7 had them back on their feet again.
Just six minutes after Manquillo scored, Ronaldo blazed his way through the defense and put the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Freddie Woodman to put United back on top 2-1:
That goal turned out to be the game-winner, and it pushed Manchester United to the top of the EPL table ahead of Tottenham Hotspur after it lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace.
A Bruno Fernandes wonder strike in the 80th minute put the match out of reach:
