Goal machine Ronaldo outscoring Man Utd all on his own

Carlo Garganese

• 27 Dec 2023 11:18 GMT
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo may turn 39 in February but the Portuguese legend is showing no signs of slowing down in front of goal.

On Boxing Day, Ronaldo found the back of the net twice more for Al-Nassr in their 5-2 win at At Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.

That took Ronaldo’s goal tally to an incredible 53 in the calendar year of 2023.

That means he is the top scorer in top-level football in the world this year, ahead of Harry Kane (52), Kylian Mbappe (52) and Erling Haaland (50).

Furthermore, prior to Man Utd’s Premier League game against Aston Villa later on Boxing Day, Ronaldo had actually outscored his former side in league football this season.

Ronaldo has 19 goals in 17 games this season in the Saudi Pro League.

Prior to the match against Villa, the entire Man Utd team had 18 goals in 18 Premier League games, making them the second lowest scorers in the division.

United did go a small way to rectifying that situation by coming from 2-0 behind at half-time to beat Villa 3-2 on Tuesday night.

But the fact that Ronaldo was outscoring the entire Man Utd team until the Villa game goes some way to showing where both Cristiano and his ex-side are right now.

United’s current number 9 Rasmus Hojlund only scored his first Premier League goal of the season during the win over Villa. Meanwhile, fellow big money signing Antony has yet to score or assist this term.

With Ronaldo in unstoppable form - albeit at a lower level - it has added further questions on whether under-fire manager Erik ten Hag was right to get rid of the veteran.

Ronaldo had his contract at Man Utd rescinded in November 2022 in the week leading up to the World Cup.

This came about after Ronaldo blasted Man Utd in an interview with Piers Morgan, accusing the club and key figures of betraying him and trying to force him out.

He slammed Ten Hag, former boss Ralf Rangnick, owners The Glazers and club legends Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville.

The interview proved to be the final straw for the club after months of indiscipline and controversy surrounding Ronaldo and his behaviour.

He eventually joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr on a free transfer in January 2023.

Ronaldo has been a big hit in the Saudi Pro League, with United watching on and wishing they could have some of the ex-Real Madrid and Juventus star’s goals.