Premier League: Ronaldo should be sent to Portugal more, jokes Rangnick after Man United star's hat-trick vs Spurs

Premier League: Ralf Rangnick said the hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur is by far Cristiano Ronaldo's best performance since returning to Manchester United from Juventus.

Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick heaped praise on Cristiano Ronaldo, joking that he intends to send the star forward more often to Portugal between games in the Premier League. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, his first in 14 years for the Old Trafford club, in 14 years as United outclassed Tottenham Hotspur in a crucial league game on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo was driven and determined as he scored the first goal, a screamer from well outside the box to give United the lead. However, Spurs equalised twice but Ronaldo was relentless as he scored the second with a tap in and the winner with a superb header.

With the hat-trick, Ronaldo also etched his name in the history of professional football as its all-time leading score - 807 goals.

There was plenty of speculation as Ronaldo had missed the Manchester derby last week due to an injury. Ronaldo travelled back to Portugal to recuperate even as the likes of Roy Keane questioned the authenticity of the injury explanation given by manager Rangnick.

However, Ronaldo doused all rumours with a dominant performance against Spurs, reiterating his total commitment to the Red Devils.

"We were just joking a little bit, maybe it makes sense to send him to Portugal for three days, then have him not train for two days, then have him back in training on Thursday," Rangnick said.

"By the way, he performed on a similar kind of level on Thursday in training. That's why I decided after that training session, although he had been out for a week, to play him from the start. Maybe we have to do that for the rest of the season."