Cristiano Ronaldo joins Premier League’s ‘century club’

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Premier League goal as Manchester United lost 3-1 to Arsenal on Saturday.

The Portugal forward is the 33rd player to reach the landmark, and the fourth this season alone.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at the ‘century club’.

Ronaldo ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of appearances taken to reach three figures, with his 223 games placing him 16th.

Alan Shearer, still the Premier League’s record scorer with 260 goals, was quickest to a century in 124 games, ahead of Harry Kane (141) and Sergio Aguero (147). Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah complete the top five. Shearer is also the only man to achieve the feat with two different clubs, Blackburn and Newcastle.

Ronaldo ranks just behind former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba (220) and ahead of Darren Bent (226).

Eleven players have reached the mark in under 200 games, with 13 more breaking 300 and then Jermain Defoe and Raheem Sterling taking 303 and 304 games respectively. The remaining six took over 400 games, with Ryan Giggs’ 534 being the highest figure.

Ronaldo’s ranking reflects a slow start to his career on the scoring front, having first been signed by United as a teenager while playing as a traditional winger rather than the centre-forward he has evolved into.

He scored one goal in his first 21 Premier League appearances and 10 in his first 70, recording single-figure league goal tallies in his first three seasons before going on to score 17, 31 and 18 in his final three seasons before leaving for Real Madrid.

He had 84 goals under his belt at that stage and, after going on to score 311 in LaLiga, 81 in Serie A and 551 in all competitions across his spells at Real and Juventus, he has 16 in 27 appearances upon his