Taking aim at the Sheriff with the Portuguese

Remains 'dedicated' despite bench role

Has scored 699 goals for his club in his career.

WHAT CAME TO PASS? On Thursday, the Portuguese superstar scored the game-winning goal from the penalty spot to help the Red Devils to a 2-0 victory over the team that had won the championship in Moldova. Because of such effort, the five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or now has 699 efforts under his belt at the club level, and he was also able to get off to a good start in the fight for Europe's second-tier league.

WHAT THEY SAID: Ronaldo spent the majority of the summer lobbying for a move away from Old Trafford, but the manager of the Red Devils, Erik ten Hag, has stated the following regarding getting the 37-year-old back up to speed in 2022-2023: "When someone misses preseason, results like this are to be expected; thus, he needs to put in a lot of effort and money to get into the appropriate shape before he can start scoring more goals. It is clear that he is not far away at all. He plans to complete them when he is in better shape. I believe that [he is] absolutely devoted to both this project and this team, as well as totally invested in both of those things. You can also see relationships springing up around him, and he is actively building connections, which is something that makes me happy."

THE BIG PICTURE Ronaldo has only started one game in the Premier League this season due to the fact that alternative attacking options have been preferred by Ten Hag. However, he has now scored his first goal of the season and will be hoping to play a more prominent role for Ten Hag after the most recent international break.

Below is the continuation of the article.

Erik Ten Hag on Ronaldo Rashford

Before his match in the UEFA Europa League against Real Sociedad, Erik Ten Hag gave his thoughts on Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashfor

WATCH RONALDO'S FIRST EUROPA LEAGUE GOAL:

DID YOU KNOW? The goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo was the 699th of his club career, and it came against Sheriff Tiraspol, the 124th team he has scored a goal against across all competitions.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR RONALDO? As a result of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, two of United's Premier League matches have been postponed. This means that the Red Devils will not play again until their match against Manchester City in the derby, which will take place at the Etihad Stadium on October 2.