Two very real ways Cristiano Ronaldo is putting Man Utd’s current stars to shame, and it’s nothing to do with Al-Nassr

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Two years ago Manchester United were dealing with the aftermath of Cristiano Ronaldo forcing his exit from Old Trafford.

November 2022 saw the frustrations Cristiano Ronaldo had with Manchester United reach boiling point. He conducted a tell-all interview, which ended up with his contract being terminated by mutual consent.

Ronaldo signed with Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr, and is continuing to score at a prolific rate.

You cannot compare Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr goals to the volume being scored by Manchester United’s players.

But you can look at what he managed at Manchester United, and what has not been achieved since.

• READ MORE: Who is Cristiano Ronaldo? Meet one of football’s most iconic names and undisputed Man Utd legend

Last Manchester United player to score free-kick

Cristiano Ronaldo is remarkably the last Manchester United player to score a free-kick.

While not as special as his long-range goal for Arsenal in 2009, or the Portsmouth thunderbolt in 2008, his 2022 free-kick against Norwich City has an unwanted record.

Since the strike at Old Trafford in the 3-2 win over the Canaries, no Manchester United player has managed to score a free-kick.

Bruno Fernandes has tried. He hit the bar in the recent draw with Aston Villa. Christian Eriksen has tried, and so has Marcus Rashford, among others.

Ronaldo was famously not the most accurate free-kick taker – but one would fly in every now and then.

Manchester United’s players have defied their own odds by failing to hit the back of the net from set pieces, and this is a problem the individuals on the team need to redress.

So that spanned the entire Erik ten Hag reign without a player scoring a free-kick. Perhaps Ruben Amorim will be more fortunate.

Last Manchester United player to score hat-trick

In the same match where Ronaldo scored his free-kick, he also netted a hat-trick. It was his second in three matches, and second in consecutive home games.

Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Norwich followed a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur days earlier.

Scoring two trebles days apart is relatively routine for Ronaldo in his acclaimed career. But for Manchester United in recent times, it has been tough going just to manage one.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, hat-tricks have been few and far between.

Anthony Martial netted one against Sheffield United in 2020, Marcus Rashford against RB Leipzig the same year, and prior to Ronaldo’s pair, that was it. Even the 9-0 win over Southampton did not feature one.

Needless to say, since then, no Manchester United player has managed to score one. Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford both threatened against Barnsley, but had to settle for two each.

Will this be the season a player does break through and score a hat-trick? At this rate, it’s a tough ask. United as a team are scoring one per-game in the Premier League, 13 in 13 matches.

A change in fortunes under Ruben Amorim cannot come quickly enough.