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Looks satisfied: Cristiano Ronaldo
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CHRIS RADBURN / REUTERS
Cristiano Ronaldo, who else: The Portuguese superstar shot Manchester United 1-0 (0-0) with a converted penalty at Premier League promoted Norwich City.
A draw would have been a setback for United - Norwich are bottom of the table and have only won two of their 16 games.
New coach Ralf Rangnick celebrated two 1-0 wins after two league games with Manchester.
In between there was a draw in the Champions League against Young Boys Bern - but the English were there with a B-Elf, they were already sure of group victory.
In the Premier League, United improved to fifth place in the table with 27 points from 16 games.
Against Norwich, Manchester were particularly convincing defensively, around the 60th minute alone the defense seemed unsavory, goalkeeper David de Gea prevented the 0: 1 against former Schalke striker Teemu Pukki (56th minute).
The winning goal later resulted from a foul by Max Aarons on goal scorer Ronaldo.
Ronaldo himself had previously failed with a shot at Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul (37th), just before half-time the host's goalkeeper steered a Harry Maguire header over the crossbar after Alex Telles had previously hit the crossbar with a deflected free kick.
Shortly before the end, the favorite almost surrendered the victory, De Gea parried a conclusion again, this time a header from ex-Schalke Ozan Kabak, then a shot by Billy Gilmour was directed wide - and the second Rangnick victory the second game was perfect.
Rangnick took over the team at the beginning of December.
He remains head coach until the end of the season, when he takes on an advisory role in the club.
Until then, he should lead the club in the Champions League.
The Red Devils are unlikely to have anything to do with the championship.
City rivals Man City also won his game in the afternoon and consolidated their lead with a 1-0 win against Wolverhampton (38 points).
Liverpool (1-0 against Aston Villa, 37 points) and Chelsea (3-2 against Leeds, 36 points) also won their games and each have a clear lead over United.
mon / Reuters