Gary Lineker took to social media to salute Cristiano Ronaldo after the forward helped to fire Manchester United to a thrilling 3-2 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo, 36, netted twice in the second half to help the home side mount a comeback after Arsenal had taken the lead in bizarre circumstances.
Emile Smith Rowe’s opener in the 13th minute was allowed to stand after a VAR review, with David De Gea having fallen to the ground moments before the Arsenal midfielder’s strike.
The Manchester United goalkeeper was hurt when Fred inadvertently stood on his ankle and he tumbled to the ground before Smith Rowe fired home an impressive strike into an unguarded net.
Manchester United drew level on the stroke of half-time when Bruno Fernandes fired home from close range, and Ronaldo made it 2-1 to the hosts when he swept home an accurate finish in the 52nd minute.
Martin Odegaard fired home a leveller just two minutes later to make it 2-2. But Ronaldo made the points secure when he smashed in his penalty in the 70th minute after Odegaard brought down Fred in the box.
Ronaldo has now scored six Premier League goals and made two assists in 11 games since his return to Old Trafford.
The Portugal international’s two strikes against the Gunnres also took him to 801 career goals – and England legend Lineker was quick to praise Ronaldo on social media during the game.
Posting after Ronaldo’s first goal, Lineker wrote: “Great from Dalot, superb from Rashford, clinical from Ronaldo, who scores his 800th career goal. Eight hundred. Utterly bonkers.”
Later on, in a separate tweet, Lineker added: “Cristiano Ronaldo is indisputably one of the greatest players in the history of the game. An absolute phenomenon.”
Meanwhile, England legend Michael Owen also took to social media to offer his reaction to an entertaining game at Old Trafford.
The former Manchester United and Liverpool FC star wrote on Twitter: “Couple of observations. 1. Arsenal’s first goal was absolutely right to stand. Hopefully it puts players off this game damaging habit of staying down when there’s nothing wrong with them. 2. How anybody can say Ronaldo hinders Manchester United in any way is absolutely laughable.”
The win left Manchester United in seventh place in the Premier League table, with Arsenal remaining fifth and a point behind West Ham United.