Cristiano Ronaldo's message after scoring 700th club
Ronaldo scored the landmark goal in Man Utd’s 2-1 win over Everton
Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has reacted to his landmark of 700 club goals.
Ronaldo reached the milestone in Manchester United's 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday in the Premier League. Ronaldo started the game at Goodison Park on the bench but came on for the injured Anthony Martial in the 29th minute and scored what turned out to the winner as the Red Devils went 2-1 up.
"700 club goals. What a beautiful number we've achieved together! Thank you to all my teammates, coaches, clubs, family & friends and of course my fans. United we continue!" Ronaldo wrote in a Tweet.
Out of the 700 goals, Ronaldo has scored 144 for Manchester United, 450 for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus, and five for Sporting Lisbon, the Portuguese club where the forward started off his senior career.
The goal against Everton on Sunday was Ronaldo's just second goal of the season and his 699th goal came in the Europa League against FC Sheriff in September.
Ronaldo, who moved from Juventus to Manchester United in the summer of 2021, has not received enough game time under new boss Erik ten Hag because the latter's requirements are more inclined to mobility and pressing. Prior to the Everton game, Ronaldo had been limited to just 207 minutes in the league.
After the game on Sunday, Everton boss Frank Lampard and Manchester United manager Ten Hag were both in awe of the forward's achievements.
"It is outstanding, one of the greatest players that has graced the game in an era when we have had himself and Messi. The comparison doesn't matter, they are both incredible players in football history. The numbers they have racked up... abnormal numbers that have become normal. When he was on 699, I wanted him to score in the Europa League the other night," said Lampard.
Ten Hag, who has started Ronaldo just once in the 2022-23 Premier League, congratulated the Portuguese forward.
"I'm really happy for him, I congratulate him on that performance and I'm also happy it's his first goal this season in the Premier League - he had to wait for it and I'm sure there will be more goals," added Ten Hag.
Ronaldo's compatriot and Man United teammate Bruno Fernandes told BT Sport: "It is tough still counting goals for Ronaldo because every week seems like a new record. I am really happy because he has been working hard to get this goal. Today he got the goal and the win and that is the most important for him, that the team won."
Last year, Ronaldo scripted history by becoming the leading goal scorer in men's international football. A brace for Portugal against the Republic of Ireland moved him onto 111 goals for his national team, overtaking Ali Daei, who scored 109 times for Iran between 1993 and 2006.
At the club level, Ronaldo is also the all-time top scorer in the Champions League with 140 goals - 13 more than arch-rival rival Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo's latest goal has also extended his lead over Messi in the list of most goals at the club level. The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star is on 691 goals, which he has scored for the Ligue 1 club and FC Barcelona.