The Red Devils registered their first victory in three games courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo’ hat-trick but the German tactician wasn't happy with his side's performance as a team.
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Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick opens up about his side’s weakness after the lacklustre 3-2 win over Norwich City on Saturday. The Red Devils registered their first victory in three games courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo’ hat-trick. There was a huge protest staged by the fans ahead of the kick-off against the club’s glazer ownership and the supporters turned their ire on underperforming players with Paul Pogba appearing to react to fans booing at him.
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BIG. THREE. POINTS.#MUFC | #MUNNOR
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 16, 2022
United still seems to be struggling to play as a team and individual performances are taking them forward, whic won’t last for long. At Old Trafford, it was Ronaldo’s brilliance that once again helped the Red Devils to take all three points and stay close to the top four.
Speaking after the game, Rangnick said: “They (the goals conceded) were too easy, we are the only team in the league who concedes goals like this.”
After Ronaldo had given the hosts a two goal lead inside the opening 33 minutes, Keiran Dowell pulled one back on the stroke of half time.And then, after the break, Teemu Pukki beat the off-side trap and smashed the ball past David de Gea to level the score.
The United interim boss added: “After we scored our second goal we should have made life easier for ourselves but we didn’t. We lost our structure and weren’t aggressive enough. It’s about being clever and smart. All of a sudden it was 2-2 and David de Gea kept us in the game. But we definitely have to raise our play.”
United didn’t play a defensive midfielder at the start and Norwich did well to exploit the space in the middle of the park. Therefore, after conceding two goals, Rangnick introduced Matic in place of Lingard.
Just when it looked like it would turn out to be another frustrating night for the United fans, Ronaldo restored the lead with a brilliant free-kick. The 37-year-old legendary striker’s right-footed shot from 25-yards out went past Tim Krul into the back of the net in the blink of an eye.
Speaking of Ronaldo’s hat-trick, Rangnick once again referred back to the goals his side conceded: “We should not only rely on him. We played well at times but we sometimes slowed the game down and didn’t make use of overlap situations on the wing. Defensively I was not happy at all. The results elsewhere were good. But it doesn’t make sense to look to other results. We need to raise our game.”
It was Ronaldo’s 60th career hat-trick and the six-time Ballon D’Or winner has once again dragged his side to result almost single-handedly. It was his 15th league goal of the season in 26 appearances. His goals could prove vital in the team’s race for a Champions League qualification.
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