Cristiano Ronaldo produced the moment Michael Carrick had been dreaming of to put Manchester United in front against Villarreal.
The Red Devils were made to suffer for many of the 77 minutes that led up to the opener, as the LaLiga side had the best of the chances and forced David De Gea into multiple fine saves.
In his first game as caretaker manager, Carrick threw on Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford from the bench after the hour mark. The match began to turn in the visitors’ favour as Fernandes then played in Jadon Sancho, whose one-on-one effort was denied.
But it was Fred who created the goal, putting on a high press to win the ball back after a Villarreal goal kick.
Who else?
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 23, 2021
The first goal of Michael Carrick's term as interim boss of Man Utd is scored by Cristiano Ronaldo 😤#UCL pic.twitter.com/ucMpKu6Hl4
The tackle broke for Ronaldo, allowing him to turn as the ball sat up and spot Geronimo Rulli rushing off his line. The veteran striker knew exactly what to do and calmly chipped the ball into the empty net.
It was almost 2-0 moments later as another Villarreal error inadvertently played Ronaldo in, only for his lob from a tight angle to drift across the face of goal and past the post.
Sancho made no mistake in the final moments, after being played in by Rashford and Fernandes to hammer in his first United strike at the near-post.
