Cristiano Ronaldo’s 50th club hat trick, which included a fantastic late free kick, gave Manchester United a 3-2 victory over Norwich City at Old Trafford on Saturday, keeping their top-four chances alive just about.
United fans staged a protest against the club’s ownership outside the club’s Carrington training base on Friday, while thousands more supporters marched outside the ground before the match against Norwich on Saturday.
United, who had won just one of their previous seven games entering into this match, appeared prepared to run away with it as they went 2-0 up inside the first 32 minutes with the protest still going on.
Ronaldo’s first goal came after only seven minutes, when Anthony Elanga caught Norwich defender Ben Gibson offside on the edge of the box, teeing up the Portugal star, who converted from close range.
Just after the half-hour mark, United’s No. 7 scored his second goal, heading past Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul from a corner.
Teemu Pukki found out an unmarked Kieran Dowell to head home from just within the six-yard box in first-half stoppage time, and Norwich equalized.
On 52 minutes, the Premier League’s lowest side were level when Dowell set up Pukki, who evaded the offside trap and kept his calm to score off the inside of the post.
Ronaldo was United’s hero once more on 76 minutes, as he clinched the victory with a brilliant free kick to complete his second treble of the season.
United goalkeeper David de Gea said after the game that Ronaldo’s treble indicated his team could still contend for a top-four finish, but he urged his team to contribute more.
