Lionel Messi overtakes Manchester United hero Cristiano Ronaldo as he sets goalscoring record

Lionel Messi’s winner against Lyon on Sunday saw him jump ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo for the most non-penalty goals by a single player in football history.

The PSG player's goal after five minutes means he has now netted 672 non-penalty goals in total, one ahead of Ronaldo who has played 145 more matches. The Portugal captain opened his account for the season on Thursday, firing home a spot kick in Manchester United's 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.

After being benched for most of the campaign, it was Ronaldo’s first strike in three starts and nine outings altogether. Messi has found the net six times in 11 appearances this season, having started each one.

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Ronaldo still leads the all-time scoring charts with 816 to his name, ahead of Messi’s 775. But his total contains 145 penalties, with Messi having converted 103 in his time. Ronaldo has hit more career hat-tricks, recording 60 of them, four more than his counterpart.

However, the 37-year-old has had fewer chances to increase his overall tally this season, having played just one full 90 minutes all season - United ’s 4-0 loss to Brentford. Erik ten Hag has mostly preferred to start Marcus Rashford as the central striker amid Anthony Martial’s Achilles injury.

Ronaldo confirmed his desire to leave United over the summer but was denied an exit with few options elsewhere available to him. Ronaldo has netted 143 times in 338 United games across his career.

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