Ronaldo’s hat-trick, which featured all of his party tricks — a long-range cannon, a clinical tap-in, and a thunderous header – took the 37-year-old above the previous record holder Josef Bican with his and United’s second goal of the night.
Cristiano Ronaldo breaks Josef Bican’s record for the most goals in competitive matches in football history 🐐 pic.twitter.com/E8NWuSR5eZ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 12, 2022
This brings him to 12 Premier League goals for the season. It’s a pleasant return to form for him after a nine-game drought in which he only scored once.
However, it wouldn’t be a Ronaldo day if he didn’t also set a new record or receive a special award.
Indeed, his hat-trick today was his 59th in his career, his second in a Manchester United shirt, and he now ranks second in the Premier League after Teddy Sheringham as the oldest player to ever score a hat-trick.
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🎩🪄 Oldest hat-trick scorers in PL
37y & 146d Teddy Sheringham
37y & 35d CRISTIANO RONALDO
36y & 60d Gordon Strachan pic.twitter.com/Rbv3FBol07— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) March 12, 2022
The 14-year-and-59-day gap between his hat-trick today and the one he scored against Newcastle in 2008 is also the greatest gap between hat-tricks in Premier League history.
Even though everyone could see how good he was at the time, no one could have predicted that he would shatter all of these records throughout the course of his career.
14 – Cristiano Ronaldo scored his second Premier League hat-trick and first since January 2008 against Newcastle. His two trebles were separated by 14 years & 59 days, the longest gap between hat-tricks for a player in Premier League history. Longevity. pic.twitter.com/UaOf7CU3yU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 12, 2022
