Ronaldo hat-trick saves Man Utd victory over Norwich


Cristiano Ronaldo sealed his hat-trick with a stunning free-kick to rescue a 3-2 victory for Man Utd over Norwich, having earlier blown a two-goal lead at Old Trafford.

Ronaldo's second hat-trick in five games put some shine on another underwhelming performance from United, whose pursuit of a top-four spot was nonetheless strengthened thanks to defeats for rivals Arsenal and Tottenham.

They looked to be strolling to victory when Ronaldo was teed up for an early tap-in after Ben Gibson was caught in possession (7) and grabbed a second by nodding home Alex Telles' corner (32).

Norwich had created chances without threatening to defy their goal-shy reputation until Kieran Dowell headed Teemu Pukki's cross past David de Gea on the stroke of half-time, and the Finland striker beat the offside trap to level seven minutes into the second period.

With the atmosphere around Old Trafford souring on an afternoon, where the pre-match preparations had been overshadowed by widespread protests outside the ground against the Glazer ownership, Ronaldo restored the hosts' good feeling with a 25-yard thunderbolt free-kick winner in the 76th minute which caught out Tim Krul and put the hosts right back in contention to finish fourth

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