By MARTIN BLACKBURN
Published: Today
CRISTIANO RONALDO has proved he is simply the Best —
now he can show he is ‘Law-some’ by smashing through the 40-goal
barrier.
The Manchester United star beat George Best’s record
for goals in a season by a winger when he took his tally to 33 with
a double against Bolton on Wednesday.
With at least 10 matches still to play — and possibly
as many as 13 — the Portuguese ace now has his sights set firmly on
shooting down more Old Trafford legends.
Assistant boss Carlos Queiroz sees no reason why his
countryman cannot find the net in all of the remaining eight
Premier League matches.
That would mean he matches Dennis Viollet’s record of
32 league goals for United, set in 1959-60.
And if he sends United to the Champions League final
and scores in the remaining five European ties as well, his season
tally would be 46 — the same as Denis Law notched up in
1963-64.
Queiroz said: “Beating Best’s record is a fantastic
achievement. Since the beginning of the season we started to feel
that something special was in Cristiano’s sights.
“But I am sure most of us didn’t expect that this year
he could go so far. We are happy with him but let’s see if he can
get more before the end of the season.
"Maybe in the next eight games he can score one per
game and that will give us a big chance to win the
Championship.”
Only Law and Ruud van Nistelrooy five years ago have
ever reached the magical 40 mark for United.
Ronaldo is now closing in on that target. But the
23-year-old reckons scoring in every game is a tall order.
He said: “I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved but I
don’t expect to score every game, to be honest. I just try game by
game to play good, not think about scoring goals. If you think too
much that you’re going to score then you don’t.
“My confidence is high and I feel very good, in good
form. The team is playing nice football — when the team is playing
good, wingers and strikers feel more comfortable.
“My team-mates help me a lot with good passes and great
opportunities to score goals.”
Ronaldo was made skipper for the night by boss Alex
Ferguson and repaid that faith by leading United to a comfortable
2-0 win over Bolton.
He netted both goals in the first half, with his second
one of his trademark free-kicks, which he has nicknamed ‘The
Rocket’.
It gave United a three-point cushion over second-placed
Arsenal and he has issued a rallying call to his team-mates not to
throw away their advantage. He said: “Being captain was a pleasure
and an honour — it’s marvellous for me to be captain of this
massive club.
“The lads knew how important it was to beat Bolton. We
wanted to make sure we stayed top and it’s good.
“Now we have a small advantage. But now we need to
think about Sunday’s game with Liverpool and if we can do that then
we’ll have a good chance.
“We have to take it game by game and if we play like
that we’ll have a good chance of winning the title.”
Ferguson was full of praise for his star man.
He said: “Beating Best’s record is a phenomenal
achievement. There won’t be a winger in this world that can do
that. It’s a measure of the quality of the lad and his scoring
ability.”
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