Manchester United sealed a routine victory over FC Sheriff on Thursday night to book their spot in the next stage of this season's Europa League.
Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo all registered on the scoresheet to ensure Erik ten Hag's side are guaranteed at least second spot - although a two-goal margin of victory against Real Sociedad next week will confirm them as group winners.
For Ronaldo, the goal went some way to drawing a line under recent events. He was absent from the squad against Chelsea after Ten Hag stood the Portuguese down following his refusal to come on as a substitute in a recent Premier League game against Tottenham. The 37-year-old has been restricted to a bit-part role this term but he found the net against the Moldovan champions.
Read more : How we rated United players in routine Sheriff win
He rose to meet a Bruno Fernandes cross and despite seeing his bullet header kept out by the Sheriff goalkeeper, he reacted quickest to rifle home the rebound.
That strike was only his third of the season but it proved to be his 15th goal of the calendar year and ensures a stunning statistic lives on for another year. It means he has now notched at least 15 goals in 18 successive years, stretching back to 2005.
His manager Ten Hag was impressed with the forward's perseverance, saying: "He kept going, the team kept going to put him in the right position. He kept going to put himself in the right position. He didn't give up. That's his whole career. That's why he's so good and he got the reward for it."
Ronaldo will be hoping to feature as much as possible in the five United games that are left between now and the start of the winter World Cup.
READ NEXT:
