"Best performance by him in the last weeks" - Ralf Rangnick hails Cristiano Ronaldo for 'amazing' goal in Manchester United's 2-0 win against Brighton

Cristiano Ronaldo finally ended his six-game goal drought last night when Manchester United hosted Brighton in a must-win Premier League fixture, and he did so in sensational fashion.

Desperately in need of a win, Manchester United endured yet another dreadful first half, which ended 0-0, but recovered well in the second half to eventually win the game 2-0 and return to 4th place in the Premier League.

Just six minutes into the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo proved that class is permanent as he smashed home a screamer from the edge of the box while closely surrounded by five Brighton players to give the Red Devils the lead. Three minutes later, the visitors were dealt another massive blow when Lewis Dunk was sent off for a poor foul on Anthony Elanga.

Despite being reduced to ten men, Brighton continued to create chances and Manchester United quickly sought a second goal to put the game to bed. However, it only came towards the very end of stoppage time when Bruno Fernandes topped off a run from his own half by calmly scoring the Red Devils' second goal of the night.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who began the game without having scored in six consecutive matches for the first time in over a decade, was lively throughout and found himself in the thick of things several times in a man-of-the-match-winning performance.

His spectacular goal earned him praise from manager Ralf Rangnick, who called it an 'important' and 'amazing' one, while speaking in a post-match interview. Rangnick also believes that Cristiano Ronaldo's overall performance last night was his best in the last few weeks. He said:

"That was an amazing goal. Not only an important one but an amazing goal.

"I think overall it was a good performance by Cristiano. Energetically, he was on there, he was always trying to help the team-mates so I think in the last weeks definitely the best performance by him and a very, very important goal for us."

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Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United prepare for Champions League clash versus Atletico Madrid

The two-leg clash against Atletico Madrid will be exceptionally crucial for Ralf Rangnick's side

Although Manchester United are scheduled to face Leeds United in the Premier League this weekend, their sights will surely be on next week's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first-leg match against Atletico Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United will hope to add to the momentum from the win against Brighton with another victory against Leeds before they take on the La Liga giants. With the UEFA Champions League proving to be the only possible (albeit unlikely) form of silverware the Red Devils can still win this season, the Old Trafford-based side will have to go all out if they seek to progress to the next round of the competition.