Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 60th career hat-trick to keep Manchester United’s top-four aspirations alive as fourth-placed Tottenham slumped to a shock loss.
Ronaldo scored twice in the first half set up Anthony Elanga’s steal inside the box in the seventh minute, before Alex Telles’ 32nd minute corner.
Kieran Dowell pulled a goal back before half-time and then Teemu Pukki squared the game up in the 52nd minute.
Ronaldo came up with a winner from a trademark free-kick in the 76th minute, marking his 60th career hat-trick.
“Yes, it is (remarkable). Especially the second and third goals were brilliant goals,” United boss Ralf Rangnick told reporters.
“(He showed) a lot of physicality with the header and he was quite like against Tottenham today, the difference maker.”
The result sees United move to within three points of Tottenham who lost 1-0 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, who had stunned Arsenal last weekend.
Rangnick added: “We should not only rely on him (Ronaldo). We played well at times but we sometimes slowed the game down and didn’t make use of overlap situations on the wing. Defensively I was not happy at all.
“The results elsewhere were good. But it doesn’t make sense to look to other results. We need to raise our game.”
Spurs’ defeat, after Leandro Trossard’s 90th minute winner, left manager Antonio Conte dismayed.
“There is big disappointment for the final result,” Conte said. “Because I think we can do much better. We started the game slowly.
“At the same time, a lesson to learn is that there are games where if you are not able to win, you are not to lose. Honestly, the end of the game, the draw is a fair result. Instead, we are talking about a loss.”
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