It was a dream return to Old Trafford for Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted a brace on his second Manchester United debut to give the hosts a 4-1 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The first half had provided excitement and frustration in equal measure for both sets of fans until, just before the half-time whistle, Ronaldo announced his arrival with a tap-in from close range after Mason Greenwood’s shot was parried by Freddie Woodman.
Ronaldo then rushed to the corner flag where he did his signature ‘Siu’ celebration, with much of the fans present joining him in the shout that goes along with it.
Newcastle almost spoiled the party early in the second half when the omnipresent Allan Saint-Maximin was found outside the area by a cross-field ball from Miguel Almiron. Saint-Maximin offloaded the ball into the box for the overlapping Javier Manquillo, whose first-time effort beat David De Gea at his far post to equalize for the visitors.
The scriptwriters were not done yet though. Less than ten minutes later, Ronaldo received Luke Shaw’s through ball in the left of the penalty area and rifled a low shot through Woodman’s legs to restore United’s lead.
In the 80th minute, keen not to be overshadowed, Ronaldo’s compatriot Bruno Fernandes received the ball outside the area and curled it into the top corner to make it three for the hosts before substitute Jesse Lingard added gloss to the scoreline in injury time.
The result will leave Manchester United fans feeling like kids again ahead of their Champions League clash away to Young Boys on Tuesday, but the Magpies will understandably be fuming after matching United for most of the game.
