Manchester United beat Villarreal 2-0 on Tuesday to secure their position at the top of Group F in the Champions League. The victory comes during troubled times for the Red Devils, who played their first game since the sacking of Norwegian manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United is now guaranteed a spot in February’s Round of 16. Meanwhile, Ronaldo opened the scoring in Villarreal and reached another career landmark during the match. Watch the match highlights here.
Ronaldo’s goal in the 78th minute paved Man. United’s way to a vital triumph, but also added to the previous 799 he had netted starting on Oct. 7, 2002. Ronaldo now has an incredible 800-goal total under his belt at the senior level, earned while wearing the shirts of Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and the Portuguese national team.
Five of his goals came at Sporting between 2002 and 2003, 128 in his two spells at Manchester United, another 451 at Real Madrid, and 101 at Juventus. Of course, this adds to his 115 goals for Portugal, which makes him the greatest all-time goalscorer in international football.
The goal against Villarreal was Ronaldo’s 140th in the Champions League. He’s scored 10 times since moving back to Old Trafford from Juventus in late August.
Manchester United is on the lookout for a new manager
Man. United’s initial plan was to go after Zinedine Zidane, but the Frenchman turned down the opportunity to become the permanent manager at Old Trafford. Having sacked Solskjaer on Sunday, United is now looking to appoint an interim head coach until the end of the current campaign. According to ESPN, former Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde was offered the interim role.
Solskjaer’s assistant, Michael Carrick, has been placed in temporary charge, with the former midfielder also standing a chance of being given the job until the end of the current campaign.
For the long term, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino and Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers have the best odds of taking United’s hot seat.
Under Solskjaer, Man. United won just one of their past seven Premier League matches. They are now seventh in the table, 12 points behind leaders Chelsea. Solskjaer took over as interim manager following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in December 2018. Under him, United didn’t win any trophies, and was beaten by Villarreal in the Europa League final last year.