Ronaldo hits 700th club goal to give United victory at Everton
Cristiano Ronaldo’s 700 th career club goal clinched a 21 victor y at Ever ton which moved Manchester United to within a point of the top four.
The 37-year-old was only on the pitch due to Anthony Martial’s inability to run off an injury sustained in the warm-up, but it was no great surprise when the substitute seized the opportunity afforded him.
Antony’s neat finish had cancelled out Alex Iwobi’s early, sumptuous curling strike to turn the momentum in United’s favour, but it was a passage of mistakes which presented Ronaldo with his moment in history a minute before half-time.
Case miro gave away possession to Iwobi, only for the Everton midfielder to run the ball straight into the path of his opponent, whose immediate response was to send Ronaldo scampering clear down the left wing.
There was only one thought in his mind as he bore down on goal and, while his low strike whistled past Jordan Pickford, the England goalkeeper would have been disappointed to have been beaten at his near post.
Marcus R ashford thought he had scored a third for United with 10 minutes left, but the goal was ruled out following a VAR check for handball against the England striker as he broke away.
Earlier yesterday, West Ham chalked up their third straight victor y after beating Fulham 3-1 at the London Stadium.
Fulham had taken an early lead through Andreas Pereira, his first goal for the club, in the fifth minute. However, Jarrod Bowen equalised from the spot after Pereira had needlessly given away a penalty for pushing Craig Dawson over at a corner.
Italian forward G ian lu ca Scamacca chipped in a second just after the hour, although re plays showed a hint of handball - which left Fulham boss Marco Silva fuming and earned him a yellow card for his protests.
Substitute Michail Antonio added a third in stoppage time to move David Moyes’ side further up the table.
Crystal Palace beat Leeds 2-1 at Selhurst Park for a first Premier League win since August.
Pascal Struijk put the visitors ahead after just 10 minutes, but former Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard soon headed Palace back on level terms.
Eberechi Eze then drilled in a well-worked goal with 15 minutes left to secure all three points.