Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo moved past another career milestone by scoring twice against Arsenal on Thursday to take his tally to 801 for club and country, earning high praise from some of the great goalscorers of the game.
The Premier League’s all-time top scorer, Alan Shearer, was stunned by Ronaldo’s performance in United’s 3-2 win.
“You just have to sit there and say ‘wow’ and applaud the guy,” Shearer said on Amazon Prime Video. “It’s very difficult to get to the top, but it is staying there too. You have to get up in the morning and go again and the whole world is looking for you to perform every week. It’s just phenomenal what he’s done.”
Photo: AFP
Former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry said he would need “two lives” to beat the 36-year-old’s latest record.
Ronaldo has scored 686 club goals for Sporting Lisbon, United, Real Madrid and Juventus, and 115 goals for Portugal.
There is some debate over his status as the most prolific scorer in men’s soccer, with Brazil’s Pele and Romario both having more than 1,000 goals, but statisticians say the Portugal forward tops the scoring charts in official competitions.
Photo: Reuters
Former England international Gary Lineker said that Ronaldo’s latest career milestone was “utterly bonkers.”
“He is indisputably one of the greatest players in the history of the game. An absolute phenomenon,” Lineker wrote on Twitter.
Ronaldo is United’s top scorer this season with 12 goals in 16 appearances in all competitions.
Elsewhere, Antonio Conte said that Tottenham Hotspur are starting to understand his philosophy after Son Heung-min’s first Premier League goal since October sealed a 2-0 win against Brentford.
A Sergi Canos own-goal gave Tottenham the lead in the first half and Son wrapped up their second successive Premier League win after the interval.
It was Son’s 75th top-flight goal since joining the north Londoners from Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2015.
Tottenham are up to sixth place after extending their unbeaten league run under Conte to three matches since he replaced Nuno Espirito Santo last month.
“It was a good performance against a dangerous team,” Conte said. “I’m happy, because I have seen great commitment and good passion from the players. It’s a good reaction.”
“The players are starting to understand my philosophy,” he said. “With the ball we can do better, but at the same time the second goal was really good. The three points are good for the confidence. We have started on a new path. The players are showing me great desire to change the situation.”
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