Cristiano Ronaldo showed form is temporary and class is permanent as he scored a fantastic hat-trick to lead Manchester United to a 3-2 win over Tottenham.
Ronaldo scored all three from open play with a rocket from outside the box and a trademark powerful header among his strikes.
This really was vintage Ronaldo, with the forward dragging United to a win over a top four rival on a big night under the lights at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo has always been the man for the big occasion and he showed it last night with his efforts, which were truly noteworthy.
Here is a look through seven impressive records and statistics Ronaldo set in the impressive win…
Record ever goalscorer
There is no official higher goalscorer in world football history than Cristiano Ronaldo. Throw out Pele’s unproven claim of 1,000 goals. Ronaldo is up to 807 and counting, overtaking Josef Bican (805).
To overhaul such a record with a hat-trick speaks volumes for Ronaldo’s brilliance.
Most vs an English club
Ronaldo now has 14 goals against Tottenham – more than versus any other English team.
If Spurs thought they had it bad, spare a thought for poor Sevilla, who he has 27 goals against, while he has a chance to add to his tally of 25 against Atletico Madrid this week.
Goals spread around
While he likes to score goals late, Ronaldo distributes his goals pretty equally as this remarkable statistic shows.
First United hat-trick since 2008
It has been a long wait to see Ronaldo score a hat-trick for Manchester United since his last, the longest any Premier League team has seen before. Let’s hope his next one comes around quickly.
Double the best
Ronaldo is currently United’s top goalscorer this season with 18 goals – double his nearest teammate.
Bruno Fernandes is closest to Cristiano Ronaldo with nine goals, and the rest of the strikers (Rashford – 5, Cavani – 2, Martial – 1 and even counting Greenwood – 6) have less combined than Ronaldo does.
59th hat-trick
This was Cristiano Ronaldo’s 59th professional hat-trick, and 49th at club level. It is a staggering feat and you just know he will not end it there. Number 60 and 50 will not be far away.
Oldest United hat-trick scorer since 2003
Ronaldo is the oldest Manchester United player to score a hat-trick since Teddy Sheringham did in 2003, before he signed in the first place.
Only one Premier League player – Burnley’s Graham Alexander – has scored a hat-trick in between aged 37 or over.