Cristiano Ronaldo hailed by Manchester United interim Ralf Rangnick after ending drought

Ralf Rangnick gushed over Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘amazing’ contribution and said it was the 37-year-old’s best performance in weeks as Manchester United returned to winning ways against Brighton. 

Question marks were being raised against Ronaldo as he headed into Tuesday night’s match on the back of a six-game goal drought. 

But as he broke the deadlock following Scott McTominay’s pass , Rangnick was full of praise for Ronaldo’s ‘important’ contribution in reigniting this side’s top four bid. 

The 37-year-old got United on their way to a crucial win that lifts them back into the top four

Interim boss Ralf Rangnick described Ronaldo’s display as his best in the last few weeks

‘That was an amazing goal,’ Rangnick said. ‘Not only an important one but an amazing goal. 

‘I think overall it was a good performance by Cristiano. 

‘Energetically, he was on there, he was always trying to help the team-mates so I think in the last weeks definitely the best performance by him and a very, very important goal for us.’

Ronaldo, who is United’s top scorer this season with 15 goals, took to Instagram after their 2-0 victory as he commented: ‘Back on track! Nobody gives up and there’s only one way to get back on track: hard work, team work, serious work. Everything else is just noise. Let’s go Devils!’ 

Ronaldo’s goal was ‘amazing’ and ‘important’ was Rangnick’s assessment at the final whistle

Successive draws against rock-bottom Burnley and Southampton had dented United’s hopes of the top four but this 2-0 win has steadied the ship, taking them back into fourth and two points clear of West Ham, who are fifth.   

‘It’s a big win but we still have quite a few games to play,’ interim manager Rangnick said, keen to stress nobody gets ahead of themselves ahead of Sunday’s trip to Leeds.

‘After three draws, two of them at home, this was a very important win and even so after the first half today.

‘Today for a change we had a better second half than the first half and in the second half it paid off, we were more aggressive. 

‘We were primed to intercept and attack them in higher positions, so a highly important win for us.’

Victory was vital for United having gone winless in their last three matches, a run which also included a shock FA Cup exit to Championship side Middlesbrough. 

The German interim is however keen to keep grounded in the battle for the top four places

Before the game Rangnick urged his players to ‘show for 90 minutes our nice face’ having likened those draws with Burnley and Southampton to having ‘two different faces like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, referring to their first and second half disparities. 

It was another dreadful first half on Tuesday with some supporters booing the players off at the interval. 

The second half, in which both goals were scored, was a significant step up.

‘First half was Mr Hyde, second half Dr Jekyll and for a change it [the result] was different,’ Rangnick added at full-time.   

‘In the end it was important to get the three points against an in-form team.’