Victor Lindelof hailed “unbelievable” Cristiano Ronaldo for the hat-trick that has kept Manchester United in the hunt for fourth spot.
The 60th hat-trick of Ronaldo's career secured a vital win for United, as top-four rivals Tottenham and Arsenal both slipped up by losing. Paying tribute to Ronaldo, United defender Lindelof said: “I mean it's just unbelievable, and the way he keeps on scoring goals is unbelievable.
“But, I mean, we're seeing every day the work he puts in and the way he takes care of his body. His mentality is just unbelievable, so I'm not really sure what else to say.”
On United's pursuit of fourth place, Lindelof said: “Especially at this stage of the season, the three points is very, very important. Obviously the results elsewhere were in our favour, so we've just got to stick to it. We need to try to win as many games as possible and hopefully we can finish in the top four. I thought we made it a little bit too difficult for ourselves, but we got the three points, so that's the most important thing.
“I think, overall, we did an OK game. In the first-half especially, we controlled the game, we scored two goals and I think we could have just kept the ball a little bit better. Even at 2-2, we knew we could score another goal, so it's I think it's a point to keep the head calm and try to control the game a little bit better. They got a few really good counter-attacks on us and I think we could have could have avoided that, and then Cristiano scored another goal, so yeah, fantastic.”
Ronaldo took to Instagram after the victory over the Canaries to pledge United will "fight until the end" for a spot in Europe's premier club competition while also playing down the personal significance of his latest treble. His hat-trick against struggling Norwich took his tally to 21 goals in 34 appearances this season, ensuring he has scored at least 20 times in each of the last 17 campaigns.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Ronaldo be at United next season? Let us know in the comments section
He wrote: “Very happy with this win and for getting us back on track in the Premier League. Like I said before, individual achievements are only worth it when they help us reach our goals as a team, and the 60th hat-trick in my career is so much more important because it brought us the 3 points. Well done, lads, tremendous effort from everyone. We’re not giving up, we’re fighting until the end!”
United boss Ralf Rangnick switched up his tactics as he went for broke against Norwich and it saw Swedish winger Anthony Elanga revert to an unfamiliar right-back position. However, Lindelof hailed his compatriot's versatility. He said: “Of course it's not Anthony’s position, so we had to try to speak with him a lot and help him out with his positioning. But I think he did great and he won a few duels and won a few balls back to us, so yeah, he did a great, great job.”
United head to Liverpool on Tuesday hoping to dent the title ambitions of their rivals although their recent record at Anfield is nothing special. The Red Devils have not won there since January 2016, and Liverpool thrashed them 5-0 at Old Trafford last October when Mohamed Salah bagged a hat-trick. Lindelof added: “It’s going to be a massive game for us and I think everyone wants to be involved in that type of game. We are happy for the win and now it's just time to recover and get ready for Tuesday.”
