Ronaldo delight at reaching 100 goals

Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken of his pride at hitting a century of goals for Manchester United.

Ronaldo has actually reached 101 after scoring twice in yesterday's 5-0 hammering of Stoke at Old Trafford.

With the rumblings of summer discontent and dreams of a move to Real Madrid set aside for now at least, the Portugal winger is committed to helping United defend their Premier League and Champions League trophies.

And, after six seasons with the Red Devils, he has enough knowledge to recognise the significance of his latest milestone.

'I feel very proud,' said Ronaldo. 'One hundred goals is a great achievement. I have 101 for this club now. This is my sixth season here so I think that is fantastic.'

After scoring 43 times last term, Ronaldo has reached nine this year, a remarkable effort given his season did not start until mid-September after an ankle operation.




( Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 101 goals for Manchester United )

And, after six seasons with the Red Devils, he has enough knowledge to recognise the significance of his latest milestone.

'I feel very proud,' said Ronaldo. 'One hundred goals is a great achievement. I have 101 for this club now. This is my sixth season here so I think that is fantastic.'

After scoring 43 times last term, Ronaldo has reached nine this year, a remarkable effort given his season did not start until mid-September after an ankle operation.

As Alex Ferguson pointed out, none of the previous seven had been a free-kick.

Typically, Ronaldo scored two to make amends, the first swerving viciously past Thomas Sorensen even if the Stoke 'keeper should still have done better.

Ronaldo's second effort completed United's biggest win of the season so far and allowed them to leapfrog back above Arsenal after the Gunners` shock home defeat to Aston Villa.

'It is always important to win games,' said the Portugal international. 'Last week we lost at Arsenal and we wanted to change that. Everyone tried to do their best and in the end I thought we did very well. We are third in the table now and we need to go on like that.'

Aside from boosting their goal difference, United know the win sent out a signal they do not intend to fall any further behind present pacesetters Chelsea and Liverpool no matter what obstacles are put in their path.

Even without a quartet of injured stars, including Gary Neville, who is out for a fortnight with a groin injury, and Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, who will both miss England's friendly with Germany in Berlin on Wednesday, United never looked like buckling under Stoke's aerial bombardment.

The hosts were helped by Rory Delap's inability to launch his usual bullet throws due to a combination of a wet surface and the steep slope that runs round Old Trafford about two feet from the touchline.

Once Michael Carrick found the net just before the interval, it was merely a question of how many Ferguson's team would score to mark his half a century in the game.

'It was a nice strike,' said Carrick of his tenth United goal. 'I managed to turn and get half a yard and just hit through the back of the ball. It's something I would like to do more of because it would be good to get a few goals.'

If Carrick has a tenth of Ronaldo's United total, Danny Welbeck has a tenth of Carrick's after scoring his first goal for the club he supported as a boy.

The 17-year-old was still on the bench when record signing Dimitar Berbatov extended the home side's lead four minutes after the restart.

But with victory assured, Ferguson decided to give Welbeck his Premier League debut. And the Longsight-born striker duly obliged, playing a one-two with Manucho before finding the net with an unstoppable 20-yard shot.

'We see it every day in training because Danny is so talented,' said Carrick.

'It is nice for him to produce it on the big stage. His temperament is spot-on so he won't get carried away. He has got a good chance of achieving big things here.'

Local lad Welbeck admitted: 'It is amazing really. For someone coming from Manchester, to come on and score in front of the Stretford End on my debut. It is what every young boy would dream of.

'I have thought about it ever since I started playing football and I can't imagine any better feeling.'

Welbeck wasted no time in watching a replay once he got back into the home dressing room after United's biggest win of the season.

And he has assured the Old Trafford faithful he will not be getting too big for his boots.

'I have seen it quite a few times on video analysis already,' he smiled. 'But it has just made me hungry for more. There is no better experience than to play with top class players every week. I just want to improve as much as I can.

'I am sure I will keep my feet on the ground. I am quite level-headed anyway, so I will just take it in my stride.'

Ferguson will try to patch up his wounded stars ahead of next weekend's trip to Aston Villa, while hoping his fit ones return that way.

Aside from a meeting between Nemanja Vidic's Serbia and Dimitar Berbatov's Bulgaria, of particular concern to Ferguson is Brazil's encounter with Portugal in Brasilia when Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson will be involved.

'God knows what time they will get back from that,' groaned Ferguson, who will not expect to see the trio until Friday morning at the earliest.

Cristiano Ronaldo dives in for Manchester United pay rise deal - but does he deserve it?

Cristiano Ronaldo's agent has further risked upsetting Manchester United fans by angling for a pay rise.

Ronaldo, who earns £120,000 a week, has slowly been coming back to his best form after a summer spent recovering from ankle surgery and trying to engineer a move to Real Madrid.

Now the winger has stunned United by suggesting he should be given a new contract.

'It is normal that a footballer wants a deal to go with his status and one that matches his performances,' a source close to Ronaldo's agent said.

United could face disciplinary action from UEFA after Celtic fans complained of 'sectarian abuse' during last week's Champions League match in Glasgow.

Manchester United hold their nerve

THIS game was both a thrashing and a thriller. At least 80% of the action involved Manchester United making monkeys of the Tigers of Hull, the chasm between the sides seeming as wide as if the visitors were still in League Two. Sir Alex Ferguson was not exaggerating when he suggested it could have finished with the score-board reading 10-1. So how did it end with Cristiano Ronaldo back in his own penalty are, hacking clear, and the nerves of home fans in threads? “We got ourselves in an embarrassing situation,” said Ferguson. He spoke in his “football? bloody hell!” tone of voice.

United were like Monty Brewster in the film Brewster’s Millions, a man who tires of being super-rich and tries to give his fortune away. It was difficult when doing the player ratings for this match to know whether to give Dimitar Berbatov, Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney eights and nines out of ten, or twos and threes. The gilded trio conjured attacking football that was exquisite in conception, vivid in hue and yet their finishing was of the most artisan standard.

That even goes for Ronaldo, who despite getting his 98th and 99th goals wearing the United No 7 jersey squandered double the number of chances he scored. It certainly goes for Rooney, who became the symbol of United’s mounting annoyance as, with the opposition roaring back from 4-1 to 4-3, there was a sudden threat that their wastefulness would have serious consequences. Hull came back to beat Arsenal and won at Tottenham and Newcastle through their adventurousness and, despite this first away defeat of the season, Phil Brown’s team remain irrepressible. “When the score goes to 4-1 you tend to close your eyes but you’ve got to give the players a lot of credit,” Brown said. “The towel never goes in at this club.”

Spirit aside, the ingredients that made Hull’s comeback possible included an inspired substitution by Brown, whose introduction of Bernard Mendy suddenly stretched their opponents down the left flank, a prodigious performance from their goalkeeper, Boaz Myhill, and some defending by United which was suitably horrific given it was the day after Halloween. Ferguson also believed Mike Dean was a factor and had to be restrained by Gary Neville from confronting the official at full-time.


Ferguson felt Dean should have given Michael Turner, already booked, a second yellow card for felling Michael Carrick as United’s midfielder was about to go through on goal, and that Dean was wrong to give the penalty which allowed Geovanni to make it 4-3 when Rio Ferdinand blocked off Mendy with his arm. Ferguson seemed wrong about the Ferdinand incident, correct regarding the Carrick one.

Just as against Chelsea in midweek, Hull were blitzed by an early goal. Beautiful combination play by United saw Gary Neville chip forward to Ronaldo, Ronaldo find Berbatov with a volley using the back of his heel and Berbatov return the ball to the Portuguese with a volley of his own. Ronaldo swivelled on the pass and drilled a perfect shot past Myhill from 18 yards.

Berbatov was chief veterinarian as, for 69 minutes, the Tigers were declawed and muzzled. His causal genius was evident in a succession of moments, least of all when a gorgeously weighted pass allowed Carrick to advance, drive at Paul McShane and hit a lovely left-footer across Myhill and in off the far post.

Another sumptuous move preceded this. Berbatov had got the ball from Ronaldo and Ronaldo from Rooney. It was a counter-attack that began with Vidic hitting a long pass from United’s six-yard box.

United’s third goal dismayed Brown, who prides himself on his team’s acumen at set-pieces. It was so simple, a corner from Rooney and a header by Ronaldo that pinged past Myhill off McShane. Early in the second half Hull conceded again from a corner by Rooney. Ferdinand drew defenders with a near-post run and Vidic, arriving untracked, finished on the volley.

United had already been careless with their finishing on other occasions, notably when Ronaldo smashed wide when teed up by Berbatov, but seemed in minimal danger. It was 4-1, Hull’s goal, a first-half equaliser, coming when Daniel Cousin got across Patrice Evra to score with a perfect glancing header from Andy Dawson’s equally faultless set-piece delivery. But then the madness started.

Rooney miscontrolled a Carrick pass to waste an opportunity to make it 5-1 and Evra lost his senses when caught under a high ball with Mendy closing. His confused header - it was unclear whether the intention was clearance or back pass – plopped up and Mendy lobbed Edwin van der Sar. Racing back to goal, Vidic dived to hook away the ball but not before it crossed the line.

Rooney (twice), Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez all missed easy chances before, amazingly, Geovanni scored his penalty and United found themselves clinging on for the last nine minutes. Rooney blew his bald top, was booked for a high tackle on Turner and fortunate Dean ignored his subsequent show of dissent.

“You’ve got to credit Hull but not taking our chances is the annoying thing. We had 10 or 1 clear chances [in fact I counted 13 not including the goals]. Fritter them away and you almost end up embarrassed,” Ferguson said.

MAN UNITED:Van der Sar 6, Neville 6, Ferdinand 5, Vidic 7, Evra 4, Ronaldo 7, Carrick 7 (Giggs 72min), Anderson 7 (O’Shea 88min), Nani 6 (Tevez 64min), Berbatov 8, Rooney 6.

HULL: Myhill 8, McShane 6, Turner 6, Zayatte 6, Dawson 6, Marney 5, Hughes 5 (Mendy 59min), Boateng 6 (Folan 86min), Geovanni 7, King 6 (Halmosi 63min), Cousin 7