In the last 5 Premier League matches, Ronaldo has scored all eight goals for Manchester United. Even if the 37-year-old C Ronaldo is a little faltering when he passes by with the ball in the game, as long as he has a chance in front of the goal, C Ronaldo is still the "first person in football history to eat cakes".
Facing Chelsea's gold medal defender N'Golo Kante, Cristiano Ronaldo used his interspersed running position to make his opponents the background board many times. Every time Kante made a mistake, Ronaldo was ready to be photogenic.
Kante should have ended the match in 2 minutes:
Manchester United are teams without midfielders
Where did the Manchester United midfielder go?
United used Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay in the middle of the midfield, two relatively bulky players with slow turns, who wanted better passes and advances on the offensive end, but also exposed the problems in defense.
Once the opponent has successfully picked up speed, there will be a serious disconnect between the Manchester United midfielder and the defender.
Kante has never been just the best defender, he has a strong ability to carry the ball forward, so if there is a lot of room for offensive and defensive conversion, he will also be the key player to drive the counterattack.
In the first half, due to the frequent vacuum and disconnection in the Manchester United midfield, Kante almost became the big hero who ended the suspense of the game. Unfortunately, this time his straight plug to Find Havertz hit behind Varane, and his teammates could not grasp it.
Kante kicked out the effect of the B fee
Advance with the ball twice in 2 minutes and send a wonderful pass to your teammates facing the goalkeeper. The second chance was due to McTominay's slow turn and Kante's one-sided insertion completely penetrated the United midfield.
In the case of huge loopholes in the midfield, it needs to be saved by the center-back line. However, Lindelof took a few steps forward, but suddenly turned around, putting himself in a situation where he was not falling.
There is no end to the road, the Manchester United defender and midfielder have done all the mistakes they can make, so all the pressure is left to De Gea alone.
Did this shot kick De Gea out of the way? It's really the last hope of continuing Manchester United with life.
In this game, Kante gave 3 wonderful passes to bring shooting chances, 1 of which was an absolute scoring chance. The effect of Kante's playing as a B fee really needs to be thanked for the "cooperation" of the Manchester United midfielder.
Ronaldo, 37: Sometimes it really falters
Many times, we really forget that Ronaldo is 37 years old. However, many details in the game will remind the fans who have watched the whole field, and C Luo will sometimes be unable to do so.
Judging from the heat map, C Ronaldo's range of activities is very large, which is also his problem of directly confronting the decline in order to avoid himself. So far this season, Ronaldo has averaged only 2.9 one-on-one confrontations in the Premier League, and the success rate is only 40%, which shows that he is really getting old.
This time, United's long pass to the midfield won the first point of the header, and then Ronaldo wanted to carry the ball at the wing, but directly brought it out of the sideline.
Looking at this wave of counter-attacks, C Ronaldo took the ball on the flank and sped into the box, but in the face of the first defender, he directly lost the ball.
I have to say that the 37-year-old C Ronaldo's ability to change direction and make movements is now much weaker when he carries the ball.
This time, Ronaldo directly chose to shoot from a distance, but in the current Manchester United, he may not be able to get the cross of his teammates.
In fact, Cristiano Ronaldo does not want to hold the ball too much and launch an attack autonomously, the problem is Manchester United's 35% possession rate, as well as a 6-21 shooting ratio, C Ronaldo also does not have the opportunity to use his strengths and avoid weaknesses, and has to try some of the work that he is already difficult to complete.
When Chelsea scored first, Ronaldo, who shook his head helplessly, may have a sad heart. But he quickly proved that he could still contribute to the team.
Kante became United's breakthrough: he could not defend Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo expands the range of activities: increases the chances of no-ball interspersing
Cristiano Ronaldo has a large range of motion in recent competitions, and can get more anti-insertion depth movement space when attacking and defending.
This may also be a means of self-adjustment after Manchester United's weak propulsion ability and his own single-handed attack has become worse.
Kante's advantage is that he can advance in large spaces, and Kante's flaw is that he will pass the ball incorrectly once pressed during the transition between attack and defense.
This time, when Kante made a mistake in passing, Ronaldo returned to a position conducive to the launch of a counterattack on the spot.
The key point is that Kante is a player who wins defensively by moving fast and grabbing quickly, not in advance.
So Cristiano Ronaldo happened to be standing behind Kante, and the Frenchman failed to be vigilant at the first time, which also gave Manchester United the opportunity to launch a counterattack after breaking the ball.
Ronaldo is very experienced, he has always pressed Kanter behind him, not giving the other party a chance to remedy.
This time B Fei should be decisive to shoot himself, so that even if he does not score, Ronaldo may have the opportunity to make up for it.
Unfortunately, B Fei's straight plug angle is too biased, C Ronaldo's front insertion timing is very good, there is no offside, but it is really too difficult to require the 37-year-old to twist his waist and shoot.
Grab Kante and you're right! Cristiano Ronaldo stopped the ball really well
One thing to be aware of when a team has Kante is not to get him in a trap when he picks up the ball in the backcourt. In fact, from the Champions League Real Madrid's win, we can see that once Kante is in the crowd when the attack and defense are switched, he is prone to mistakes, thus creating a counter-attack opportunity for the opponent.
When the team enters the physical node, Giogenho receives fewer balls, which may be a dangerous period for Chelsea. This time Manchester United suddenly pressed forward, and Kante naturally made a passing mistake.
With the accumulation of injuries, Kante's flexibility and instantaneous reaction will slowly decline, this time after intercepting Nemanja Matic's pass, he failed to control the ball, but instead stopped the ball for the other side, giving C Ronaldo the opportunity to insert in an instant.
The 37-year-old Portuguese stopped the ball really well and laid a solid foundation for the final goal. A minute after United conceded the ball, Cristiano Ronaldo equalised.
Dozens of seconds before the broadcast footage was still playing C Ronaldo shaking his head in chagrin for the team to lose the ball, and suddenly because of Kante's mistake, the Portuguese entered their own moment of celebration.
8 goals in 5 games, the key stage of the fight for the fourth, C Ronaldo did not drop the chain. From hat-tricks against Tottenham to scoring arsenal and Chelsea in succession, the 37-year-old veteran really deserves everyone's respect.
Conclusion
Even if sometimes he has faltered, every now and then there is a ridiculous mistake.
However, the 37-year-old is still persistently pursuing every goal opportunity and seizing it at key moments, which may be the basis for Ronaldo's success over the years.