Cristiano Ronaldo became a major topic of conversation after Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Tottenham, with Ralph Rangnick, Paul Pogba, Antonio Conte and Hugo Lloris sharing their thoughts. Below is Manchester’s live reaction after Manchester United vs Tottenham as the Red Devils led Arsenal to 4th place, giving Tottenham a great blow to their chances …
Manchester United manager Ralph Rangnick in his team’s match against Tottenham
“Coming back after two goals shows we have the right attitude. We deserve to win. At least the show was a bit aggressive. We showed a desire to win the match. I said before the match that the team that wanted it more would succeed.
“I think we were very good in the first half. We only allow them for a while when they get into our box too easily. It wouldn’t have been easy without Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay. This is a great victory. We need to win today to stay in the scramble for fourth place. It will also give us a lot of momentum for Tuesday’s game. ”
Ralf Rangnick on Cristiano Ronaldo’s three goals and his game
“Today was his best performance, at least since I arrived. Great game not only for him, but for the whole team. “He can do it [make 70,000 people quit], but then again, he can only do it with one team. Great show. He is also energetic today. He was part of the whole team when we had to defend because we had to defend a lot. It was the best performance not only for him, but also for the whole team.
“I didn’t expect him to score three goals, but I did expect him to score. That’s why I decided to play it. His workout on Thursday was so good that I decided to start it instead of removing it from the bench. I spoke to him before training on Friday and he said his hip flexors are good enough to play. ”
“With a player like Ronaldo it is a challenge, but today he showed that he still has the quality to play for a club like Manchester United. He also has the quality to be part of the team and if we want to succeed at the end of the season, that’s what we need. ”
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba on the meaning of Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance
“Ronaldo is great. I think that’s all we need – a reaction. We scored a beautiful goal. Even though we conceded one goal, we came back and scored another goal. That mentality is there again today.
“Everyone knows Cristiano – there’s no need to talk about him. That’s what he did. He didn’t play in the last game but came back and scored three goals. Everyone is happy.
“Today is a good day. You can hear the fans – they push us and feel it. I think today was an excellent performance by the team and an excellent reaction to City’s game.
“We continue to believe. In the second half, a beautiful pass was unsuccessful, and, I think, no movement. We gave them confidence, so they scored. But we got a corner and scored the winning goal. ”
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte on the severity of the defeat
“It is difficult to explain this loss. I don’t think we deserve to lose, but at the same time we need to understand how we can improve. “We have a good game, but we need to show more experience to deal with some situations. There are many parts to the game and sometimes you need to know when to push, go harder, increase intensity, or when to calm down and take your time. In this aspect, we have a lot of room for improvement. On the field, we have made significant progress.
“You can’t buy experience. You also improve your experience after this type of game. We have a lot of young players in the team and hopefully after this match they will have a chance to learn something.
“We were 1-1, then after a minute or two they scored the second goal. During this period, we missed a lot of standards. We know we have to improve if we want to reach the level needed to compete for the top spot. ”
Antonio Conte on Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance
“We are talking about a player who not only showed today that he is the best player. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the two best players in the world at the time. When you play against these types of players, they are decisive. Without Cristiano Ronaldo, United will not have a good night. ”
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on Tottenham’s good performance in the defeat
“I think we had a good team game, although we could have handled the goals we conceded better. We know that at this stage it is about the details. Cristiano Ronaldo also helped United a lot to get a result today.
“It hurts because we think we deserve better. But in football you always get what you deserve and now we have to focus on next week.
“I think [Ronaldo] is at his best, very aggressive in the box. It’s hard to control, but when you miss a set piece, you have to find it. The second goal was from a cross and we could have defended it better. For the first goal, when you give him space, he can do what he did.
“We see a lot of positive things from us, which is very disappointing. We know that this game is very important for the race for the top four, but we will not give up and will continue to strive to improve.
“If we talk about the results, it is clearly negative. We need to analyze and try to improve some aspects of our game again. The game is now over and we can only manage the next game. “