Ronaldo double gives United a huge win Thursday February 03, 2005
Ronaldo scores!
Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in four minutes to guide Manchester United to a thrilling 4-2 comeback victory over champions Arsenal at Highbury on Tuesday.
United had to play the last 21 minutes with 10 men after a red card for French defender Mikael Silvestre, but were not to be denied a famous victory that propelled them into second place in the Premier League behind runaway leaders Chelsea.
Six players were also flashed the yellow card in the ill-tempered match, with Arsenal’s Robert Pires and Jose Antonio Reyes and United’s Gabriel Heinze, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo all going into the referee’s book.
Victory left United with 53 points, eight behind Chelsea, and dealt a massive blow to Arsenal's already faint hopes of retaining their title.
Arsenal slipped to third, on 51 points, and must now look to leapfrog United at the end of the season to claim the other automatic slot in next season's Champions League.
Captain Patrick Vieira headed Arsenal into an eighth-minute lead, Giggs levelled for United 10 minutes later with a deflected shot and Dennis Bergkamp, in outstanding form, restored Arsenal's lead before the break.
But Ronaldo's goals in the 54th and 58th minutes, along with an 88th-minute strike by substitute John O'Shea, completed a United double over the champions after Arsenal's record 49-match unbeaten league run ended in a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford in October.
In the night's other games, Liverpool won 2-1 at Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1, Portsmouth were 2-1 winners against Middlesbrough and 10-man Crystal Palace drew 2-2 at West Bromwich Albion.
The showcase game though was at Highbury, where a rampant United had both the determination and the finishing needed to inflict another defeat on their bitter rivals.
Vieira, who had a verbal spat with United skipper Roy Keane in the tunnel before kick-off, put Arsenal in front after beating Argentine defender Heinze to a Thierry Henry corner.
It was an ideal start for the Arsenal skipper, who was sent off when these two sides met in September 2003 for a 0-0 draw which led to four team mates being banned following a fracas after the final whistle.
Giggs soon checked the euphoria of the Highbury crowd when a Sol Campbell clearance was charged down by Paul Scholes, Rooney flicked the ball into the Welshman's path and his shot flew in off Ashley Cole.
Arsenal rolled with the punch and hit back in the 36th minute when Thierry Henry laid the ball off for Bergkamp and the Dutchman rifled his angled shot between keeper Roy Carroll's legs.
Though both sides continued at full throttle after the break, it was United who came out on top as Ronaldo's two-goal salvo floored the champions.
He finished off a fine three-man move involving Rooney and Giggs with a shot into the far corner and then tapped in at the far post after keeper Manuel Almunia rashly tried to block Giggs on the edge of his area.
The Spaniard raced like a headless chicken away from his goal to intercept Ryan Giggs, only for the Welsh winger to pick out the unmarked Ronaldo for the simplest of finishes.
The rout, and Arsenal's first home league defeat since May 2003, was completed when O'Shea chipped Almunia.
Silvestre's red card for head-butting Freddie Ljungberg was one of three flourished in the five games being played.
Tottenham were drawing 1-1 at Bolton when their Mali international striker Frederic Kanoute was dismissed in the 68th minute.
Palace lost Uruguayan defender Gonzalo Sorondo to a red card after 12 minutes.
With Arsenal's defence plugging leaks and Henry misfiring, perhaps the only player with a wry smile on Tuesday will be out-of-favour goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Having lost his place to Almunia, the German will be hoping for a swift recall after the former Celta Vigo keeper’s blunder in United's third goal.
