Cristiano Ronaldo has joined the Premier League’s elite ‘100 club’ after scoring for Manchester United against Arsenal.
After revealing the death of one of his and girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez’s twin babies on Monday, the 37-year-old skipped United’s trip to Liverpool earlier in the week.
He returned to action against Arsenal and could only watch as the Gunners raced into a two-goal lead in north London, with goals from Nuno Tavares and Bukayo Saka adding more pressure on a United side that is frantically trying to qualify for the Champions League.
4 – Cristiano Ronaldo is the fourth player to score 100 Premier League goals for Man Utd (also Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney) – the joint-most of any club (Liverpool also four). Elite. #ARSMUN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 23, 2022
But Ronaldo showed wonderful predatory instincts to drag United back into the game, ripping off Gabriel Magalhaes to direct Nemanja Matic’s cross past Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, as he often does in big games.
With this goal, he becomes the first player to score 100 goals in both the Spanish and the English League, according to a stat reported by OptaJoe.
Ronaldo’s goal was his 16th league goal of the season and, more importantly, his 100th in the Premier League. He joins Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, and Robin van Persie as the 33rd player in the competition’s history to accomplish the milestone.
However, the first three years of his United career consisted of 95 appearances and 18 goals from right midfield, meaning he has now netted 82 goals in 128 games since becoming a wide forward or striker.
