El Cuti Romero had just starred in a more than spicy moment when he kicked Richarlison. Naturally he was reprimanded for the way he entered the Brazilian, who is always humorous with all those led by Lionel Scaloni. And, in what was ultimately a 2-3 loss to Manchester United, it was part of another heated situation…
With the Red Devils up 2-1, Harry Maguire scored an own goal and Romero directly went to celebrate him in the face, yelling at him while the Englishman was still lamenting on the ground for what had happened.
Cuti Romero shouted the goal in Maguire’s face
Romero had just kicked Richarlison
Cristiano, hero and triumph of Manchester
The beast is in force. With a spectacular hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo, who broke Josef Bican’s record and reached 807 goals in his professional career, Manchester United beat Tottenham 3-2 at Old Trafford for matchday 29 of the Premier League.
The Portuguese idol, who had scored just one goal so far in 2022, was the undisputed figure of the Red Devils and scored three together in a key game for his team, which is looking to qualify for the next Champions League.
In the preview of this Tuesday’s match for the Champions League round of 16 against Atlético de Madrid, CR7 arrived recovered from a hip injury that had left him out of the classic against Manchester City, and his return was with his best game of the season. Thus, he will confidently arrive at the crucial duel against Cholo Diego Simeone’s team.
Hero, legend, the magnificent Cristiano overcame all adversity, put the team on his shoulder in a difficult game and won it all by himself. Discreet meeting of Ralf Rangnick’s men, who would not have obtained the three points without the remarkable performance of the Portuguese.
The Tottenham of Antonio Conte and Cristian Romero -who shouted the second goal in the face of Harry Maguire- had more than interesting actions in attack and, due to inaccuracies in the last touches and several falls, failed to tie the game. The Korean Heung-Min Son and the English Harry Kane, the team’s star attacking duo, could not close a good performance and barely kicked on goal.
THIS WAS THE MATCH
In the first 15 minutes, Ralf Rangnick’s team stood up decisively in attack and showed some approaches until Cristiano shook the scoring. With a very strong and well-placed shot from outside the box after Fred’s backheel pass, the Portuguese made it 1-0 for the Red Devils. Hugo Lloris’ stretch was not enough to stop such a shot.
Ronaldo, who had already converted and assisted in the duel in the first round, was very participative and led the team’s attacking actions, falling back on the field of play to receive more of the ball. Also, he recovered some ball in and sacrificed himself defensively.
From the goal, Tottenham came out of its initial counterattack position and looked for the equalizer, which it almost got right away from a collective play that ended with a pass from Heung-Min Son and a good definition from Ben Davies, but the referee annulled correctly the action for offside of the left back.
Needing to match the game, the Spurs kept a tight defensive block and looked for a more vertical attack, while the Red Devils took the opportunity to control the ball when they had it and worked a more patient offense, despite the characteristic speed of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, of pale performance.
From a corner kick by Son, Antonio Conte’s team almost equalized with a header by Eric Dier that Diogo Dalot saved on the line. And after 30 minutes he lifted the game. Alex Telles reached in after a cross and handed over a penalty to Harry Kane, who equalized with a precise shot. De Gea guessed the stick, but failed to deflect the ball.
Three minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo struck again. Long and deep pass for Sancho, control and pass to the middle for Bicho, who pushed it before Lloris left to score his brace. 806 and another record: Josef Bican’s fell, owner of the 805 that officially had him as the top scorer in football history. An animal.
In the second stage, Conte’s men pressed with greater intensity, while United fell several meters back on the field. With Kane, Son and Dejan Kulusevski in attack and the addition of Sergio Reguilón, who frequently appears almost as a left winger, the Spurs came close to a draw. Son, at 15 of the complement, had an interesting one with a shot that went near the left post.
To try to define the match, Rangnick sent Anthony Elanga on the pitch instead of the weak Rashford, with the intention of betting on a fast counterattack behind Romero and Dier. Little of the Swedish, who had little participation.
When it seemed that Tottenham did not have the strength to equalize, Conte’s team put together a great play on the left, Reguilón shot a low cross and Maguire deflected against his own goal. 2 to 2 and surprise.
Rangnick’s men did not make a foot and generated little, but from a corner kick Ronaldo hit a phenomenal header, unattainable, to close a ten-point performance. “Calm down, calm down, here I am,” El Bicho celebrated, while the fans chanted the classic “long live Ronaldo.” In the last ten minutes, the coach brought Cristiano out, Edinson Cavani came on and United held off a weak onslaught from the visitors. Three gold points.
This Tuesday, Manchester United will receive Atlético de Madrid at Old Trafford in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, with the need to win after 1-1 in the first leg. And Cristiano doesn’t want to miss the date…
