After a week of battering and questions dangling over the head of Ole Solskjaer like a guillotine, the Norwegian manager made a string of tactical changes to his side that saw Manchester United riding roughshod over a lackluster Tottenham Hotspur, thanks to Ronaldo and his never-ending salvo.
It was tough for United to turn the tide after a streak of winless outings in the Premier League that starred a couple of humiliating drubbings for the Devils as Leicester carved them open with two late goals while Liverpool mortified them with a five-star performance.
The story of the match featuring Ronaldo as the protagonist
Astonishing everyone, Ole chose to drop Rashford and Greenwood to give an early start to the Uruguayan striker, Edison Cavani. The second change that followed suit from the game against Liverpool was a reshuffle in the formation that saw Solskjaer imposing a rare 3-man defence to accommodate two gliding wingbacks and the move worked wonders as AWB was simply stunning in his incursions in the Spurs half.
Manchester United drew first blood through Cristiano Ronaldo after the latter slotted home a clinical volley, latching onto a scouring cross from Bruno Fernandes. Even though it was Romero who was the first one to find the back of the net in the opening half, he was judged offside by the linesman and rightly so.
The change of sides stoked further aggression from the visitors as the attacking trio of Ronaldo, Bruno and Cavani started bedeviling an unceremonious Spurs defence a lot more frequently to Nuno’s likings.
Ronaldo’s national teammate, Bruno Fernandes once again whipped out a menacing through that did find the back of the net, thanks to an emphatic piledriver from the Manchester United marksman only to be reneged because of an offside.
However, it didn’t take long for United to double their insurance as a neat play between Bruno and Ronaldo saw the latter slotting the ball in the stride of Cavani. The Uruguayan marksman received the ball with a deft first touch after a stellar run that saw him sending his marker on the wrong side, rounded off Lloris with an electrifying second touch and dinked it gloriously into the back of the net to send the pogoing United fans into a delirium of frenzy.
Despite intermittent probes from a toothless Spurs attacking duo starring a dwindling Kane and Son, Raphael Varane and Aaron Wan Bissaka stood tall to deny anything to the hosts.
Rashford hammered the final nail on the Spurs coffin after being teed up by Nemanja Matic who tottered initially to regain control of the ball but once in position, sent a picture-perfect cross to a scooting Rashford whose blistering pace laced with laserlike accuracy rang the death knell for Nuno Espirito Santos’ side.
The United fans breathed a sigh of reprieve as Manchester United finally returned to winning ways in the Premier League and that too in a week where Manchester City was robbed by Crystal Palace while Liverpool relinquished a two-goal lead to a dominant Brighton in the final 50 minutes to share the spoils of war.
This is what Twitter had to say about Manchester United’s stunning performance
Twitter went insane after Cristiano Ronaldo scored his seventh of the season while carving a brilliant assist for Los Matador.
Ronaldo 🤝 Cavani
AdvertisementUnreal link-up. pic.twitter.com/3pNZ9w3A9n
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 30, 2021
Ronaldo saving Ole’s job pic.twitter.com/uLd690LgFp
— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) October 30, 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo is the oldest player to score and assist in a Premier League game since Didier Drogba.
They both did it against Spurs. They were both exactly the same age 👀 pic.twitter.com/KIjt6ZEYxg
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 30, 2021
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Always ready for a chance and he smashes it in the net #vivaronaldo @Cristiano #legend @ManUtd #TOTMUN
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) October 30, 2021
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Us too, @PaulPogba 😅#MUFC | #TOTMUN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 30, 2021
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FT: Tottenham 0-3 Manchester United.
Ole wins again with his job on the line. 🙃 pic.twitter.com/WYJE2qbV7j
Advertisement— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 30, 2021
It’s been a super difficult week for Solskjær and he did great job today. Also: players have been so serious and respectful, fighting for him. 🔴 #MUFC
AdvertisementHe’s been backed by main part of the board & Ferguson. Man United win means he’ll continue also with Atalanta and Man City. pic.twitter.com/GXlrl8v6Mj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 30, 2021
Special mention to @raphaelvarane today… calming influence! #MUFC
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) October 30, 2021
