Manchester United avoided defeat when they hosted Chelsea in the Premier League at Old Trafford Stadium, Thursday (28/4), thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s beautiful goal.
Ronaldo scored through a beautiful process in the 62nd minute. Receiving feedback from Nemanja Matic’s, Ronaldo then controlled the ball and fired hard from inside the penalty box.
That goal saved United from defeat. Because two minutes earlier Chelsea managed to take the lead through Marcos Alonso’s goal after receiving feedback from Kai Havertz.
For the umpteenth time this season Ronaldo saved Manchester United from defeat in the Premier League. In fact, eight of United’s last nine goals in the Premier League were scored by Ronaldo.
If Ronaldo doesn’t score then Man Utd will lose against Chelsea, Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur. This means that Manchester United would have lost five of their last seven Premier League games if it weren’t for Ronaldo’s goals.
If it weren’t for Ronaldo, Manchester United would have been knocked out in the race for the top four positions in the Premier League standings this season. A 1-1 draw makes Manchester United are in sixth position with 55 points.
United are five points behind Arsenal, who have two more games in the Premier League this season. While Chelsea did not move from third place with 66 points, 13 points adrift of Liverpool in second position.
Interestingly quoted from Opta, this is the first time Ronaldo has scored against Chelsea in the Premier League from 12 meetings.
Ronaldo has now scored 17 goals in 28 Premier League games. The 37-year-old striker has scored 23 goals in 36 matches in all competitions.
With three games remaining or a maximum nine points for Manchester United to grab in the remainder of this season, it is difficult for the Red Devils to penetrate the top four of the Premier League and appear in the Champions League next season.
Keane, who was a commentator on Sky Sports during the match, admitted that he was confused by the criticism that Ronaldo received, especially at the start of the season. At that time CR7 was referred to as a problem in the Man United squad.
“Obviously Ronaldo is a big problem for Manchester United. He keeps scoring goals in every game. That’s not good,” said Keane laughingly quoted from TalkSport.
Ronaldo has scored eight of Manchester United’s last nine Premier League goals, including the last five. In total, the 37-year-old striker scored 23 goals in 36 matches in all competitions, including 17 goals in 28 Premier League matches.
Furthermore, Keane did not deny that Ronaldo could be a problem for the new coach of Man Utd, Erik Ten Hag, next season. Because it is believed that Ronaldo does not want to be substituted by Ten Hag.
“If you have a player in the group who can score that number of goals, he has to be involved in the game. Ronaldo will want to keep playing every game. It will be a problem for the new coach, he will definitely look for a new striker, but Ronaldo will not stay. if he doesn’t keep playing,” Keane said.
“Ronaldo certainly doesn’t matter if he rests in the League Cup or European games if the club has already confirmed qualification. But obviously he wants to continue playing, and that will be a problem for the new coach,” said Keane.