Norwich 0-1 Man United: Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty earns scrappy win for Ralf Rangnick’s below-par side

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Matt Verri11 December 2021

Cristiano Ronaldo’s second-half penalty was enough to give Man United a scrappy 1-0 win over Norwich.

Ralf Rangnick’s side were far from their best as the rain poured down at Carrow Road, and looked for much of the evening like they might be returning to Manchester frustrated.

But Ronaldo won and then scored the penalty for his seventh Premier League goal of the season, to send United level on points with West Ham in fourth before David Moyes’ side play on Sunday.

It was a relatively uneventful first 45 minutes, but United went closest to opening the scoring.

Alex Telles’ deflected free-kick hit the bar after Marcus Rashford was brought down, while Cristiano Ronaldo cut inside in the box but saw his effort comfortably saved by Tim Krul.

Harry Maguire’s header had to be tipped over the bar, but Norwich were comfortable in making it to the break all square.

It was the hosts who initially looked dangerous in the second-half. Teemu Pukki turned well in the box and saw his fierce strike tipped over the bar, while Josh Sargent also had bright moments.

The goal did come though, and it was for United through a familiar source.

Ronaldo went down in the box under a challenge from Max Aarons as the ball was swung in, and the referee pointed straight to the spot.

The Portuguese star stepped up himself and sent Krul the wrong way to put his side in front with 15 minutes to go.

Ozan Kabak had a couple of headers brilliantly saved by David de Gea late on as Norwich pushed for an equaliser, while Ronaldo himself missed from just a few yards out when he had the chance to seal it.

But United held on for their third straight win in the league, and Rangnick would have been relieved with the result if not the performance.

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