- Cristiano Ronaldoscores twice on second coming for Manchester United
- Ronaldo scored before the break and Newcastle'sManquillo equalised for the visitors in the second half
- His second put the hosts in front again beforeFernandes and Lingard completed the rout
- Comment:Ronaldo's Manchester United return prompts an almost religious fervour among the faithful
At Old Trafford they rose to acclaim a vision of themselves from the past, when a different kind of Manchester United routinely conquered English football, and Europe too, and for an afternoon, at least, Cristiano Ronaldo granted them that privilege.
In fact, the reverie lasted so long that it was only the acrimony of the travelling Newcastle United support towards their own club that reminded the home fans to sing that they still wanted the Glazer ownership out – although all that had preceded it had been a thrilling nostalgic journey for them.
Ronaldo had returned, 18 years after his first prancing teenage debut, and that alone would have been enough, but the two goals that followed made it a rapturous occasion when United could feel like themselves again.
He was received, it would be right to say, like a king. The crowd craning to see him as he came out for the warm-up, the novelty of cheering his name and singing his song seemingly inexhaustible. Up in the stands, Sir Alex Ferguson took his seat in the directors’ box.
As for Ronaldo himself, he was less willing than the capacity crowd to join in with the homecoming frenzy, offering as little acknowledgement as he could politely get away with.
“There was lots of expectation on him and on the team,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said later, “and he has delivered”.
The relentless hyping of his return to the club and various major endorsem*nts was one thing, but there has never been a new signing received with quite so much reverence. That is because, unlike every other new player aspiring to join the great tradition, Ronaldo has already done so. In that a kind of comfort seemed to be taken.
There will be sterner tests of Ronaldo’s 36-year-old legs than a Newcastle side that defended for much of the game with 10 men behind the ball. But also there will be many more times when United, and Solskjaer, are reminded of what a formidable collection of players are at the manager’s disposal.
Beyond Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes struck a fabulous third goal with his right foot, the substitute Jesse Lingard added the fourth. There were two more assists for Paul Pogba, who now has seven this season, which by full-time was more than twice as many as any other player in the Premier League.
This is an extraordinary United squad – but do they have a team that can challenge over 38 games?
There was a time when dysfunctional, unhappy Newcastle were level – a brief six minutes after they had scored the kind of fine flowing, overlapping goal that Ronaldo will remember from the latter period of his first spell at Old Trafford.
It was carried forward by Miguel Almiron, leaping over the challenge from Harry Maguire and then on to Allan Saint-Maximin and finally to Javier Manquillo, the extra-man down the right side who finished beautifully.
There were times early on when even Ronaldo looked a little overwhelmed by it all. It would also be fair to say that he started slowly and one mis-hit shot was so dismal that the only sensible way of reacting was with a chuckle of acknowledgement at how bad it had been, which Ronaldo duly did.
Even if he had ended the game without a goal and just that strange snatched foul-up that he dragged out of touch on nine minutes, the crowd would still have simply been delighted with his presence alone. But his career has been built on the mountains of goals scored, and so they eventually came.
“A ruthless clinical goalscorer,” as Solskjaer later said. And that was certainly the case. No one else sensed the possibilities when a manageable shot from Mason Greenwood in injury time at the end of the first half flicked off Ciaran Clark and looked to be safely in the hands of the Newcastle United goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman.
Woodman, the godson of Gareth Southgate, duly spilt it at the feet of the colossus of goal accumulation, and even as Ronaldo sprinted away to launch himself into his usual celebration one could detect a smile playing across his face. It suggested that although this was perhaps not one of the hundreds of goals that would be used in evidence of his greatness, it was another reason not to bet against him.
As the ball slipped from Woodman’s grip, so the Newcastle defence were static and the only man already on the move was Ronaldo.
The second of the two, after Manquillo had equalised, had all the elements of the peak Ronaldo classic, just with a little less pace and much less certainty in the shot. He set off on a sprint in the inside left channel in full expectation that the ball would be delivered to his feet before he strayed offside, which it was by Luke Shaw. And he struck the shot just a heartbeat before the blocking tackles came in – but it was a poor one, straight at the hapless Woodman. He should have saved it. Instead, he inexplicably allowed it through his legs.
For the home fans, it was all the affirmation they needed and the deep booming response to his trademark celebration was deep and sincere. The club mantra at United has always been that the whole is greater than the individual – and certainly this particular individual is not as great as he once was, but for this afternoon the rules felt different. Solskjaer left Ronaldo on to play the full 90 minutes long after the game was won.
A reassuring presence for a crowd that has lost so many certainties over the years since he departed.
