MANCHESTER UNITED 4-1 NEWCASTLE – OLIVER HOLT AT OLD TRAFFORD: The first half was coming to a close when time lurched backward at Old Trafford.
Mason Greenwood, the teenage forward who is a superstar in the making, cut in from the right and drilled a left-footed shot towards the Newcastle United goal.
It took a slight deflection and spilled from the hands of Freddie Woodman as he tried to gather it. And as the ball rolled loose, a figure lurked.
Cristiano Ronaldo took a step forward. Woodman tried to recover his ground but Ronaldo knew he would not get there. He was three yards out. He has probably never scored an easier goal, even in his magnificent career.
He moved towards the ball and caressed it into the empty net and United was ahead. And United was top of the league. Ronaldo looked across to the touchline to check that the linesman was not going to raise his flag. He did not.
And then he strode across to the fans in the lower tier of the stand and did that theatrical jump that is his trademark celebration, leaping into the air and turning in mid-flight and then planting his feet on the turf. It has always seemed like a celebration and a preening ritual rolled into one.
