Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho took off his number 49 shirt and held it high in front of the stands to show the fans in a celebratory gesture that both his hero Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's predecessor Lionel Messi have done. Garnacho had just scored through Fulham's goal in the final minute of Premier League stoppage time to help United win 2-1. It was his first Premier League goal, with Reds boss Ten Hag cheering from the sidelines.
The scene reminded veteran fans of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007, when he also scored the winning goal against Fulham. Also launched from the left wing, of course, Ronaldo's goal is more personal, not cooperating with teammates, purely a reflection of his ability.
Garnacho made a combination with Eriksen before accelerating to overtake the opposing right-back to score.
Although not identical, Garnacho is also a recreation of the iconic goals of the idol. His first Manchester United goal came in the Europa League with an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo; And the first Premier League goal is a repeat of the miracle of Cristiano Ronaldo. After 15 years, Manchester United seems to have found the real "new Cristiano Ronaldo"!
The stats show that Ghanajo is the fourth youngest player in the club's history to score a Premier League goal, aged 18 years and 136 days, only older than Marcus Rashford (18 years, 120 days), Welbeck (17 years, 355 days) and Makeda (17 years, 227 days).
When Garnacho sent the ball into the net, Ten Hag on the sidelines raised his arms in excitement and then turned to hug the assistant team in celebration.
Before the goal, United seemed to have had to accept the end of the draw, and the Argentine genius changed the outcome of the game in a flash.
After referee Paul Tierney blew the final whistle, Ten Hag couldn't hide his excitement and rushed into the field and slapped Garnajo on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement. It was already two consecutive games by Ghana Jo coming off the bench to deliver two assists in a 4-2 runaway against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Before the World Cup, Ghanajo, who was not included in Argentina's roster, proved himself with 1 goal and 2 assists. Ten Hag commented: "You have to be balanced, you need to perform under pressure, he came off the bench and played the same important role on Thursday and today. It's a crucial win and I'm really happy."
The Manchester United boss praised the team's spirit of not giving up until the end: "Victory is definitely about faith, you have to believe that you always have a chance to score until the end. Once again, I'm happy with the sub-players, a team doesn't have 11 main players, you need a squad to win the title and that's what we want to target. I want to emphasise the way we score, from back to front, keeping the formation close, pressing the opponent and I don't think you can ignore Erikson's brilliant assists."
Garnacho's confidence was praised by Ten Hag, who came on and broke through and came close to creating a penalty before he scored. Ten Hag said: "It's a big strength for him, you can't overconfidently but under pressure, confidence is essential to perform well in the top flight."
It is worth mentioning that before the start of the season, Garnacho was dropped by Ten Hag for being late for two meetings in summer training and did not really get a decent opportunity to play until September. His attitude has improved significantly, but Mason Greenwood's predecessor shows that Garnacho still needs to work hard and keep his feet on the ground to live up to the nickname of the new Ronaldo!