Ralf Rangnick praises Man Utd duo's 'best performances' under him in Spurs win

Ralf Rangnick unsurprisingly had plenty of kind words to say about Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics following the win over Tottenham but also felt Fred gave his best performance since he took charge.

Ronaldo bagged a 59th hat-trick of his career in United’s 3-2 win over Tottenham on Saturday while Fred picked up an assist and caused Spurs problems throughout.

With Bruno Fernandes ruled out through illness, Fred stepped up in the middle of the park and his performance did not go unnoticed by his manager.

‘He is probably, together with Scott McTominay, the best ball-winner,’ said Rangnick.

‘The best player when the other team is in possession but he also showed today in quite a few counter-attacks and transitional moments, that he is also able to play, the number of balls he gave and an assist. It was also one of his best games since I was here.’

But the evening belonged to Ronaldo, who took his tally to 807 career goals for club and country and is now the FIFA-recognised all-time top goalscorer, surpassing Josef Bican’s 805 goals.

‘Today it was his best performance, at least since I arrived. He was good in training on Thursday and that is why I decided to start him. Fantastic performance by him but also by the rest of the team,’ Rangnick said.

‘He can do it [get 70,000 people off their feet], but again he can also do it only with the team. A fantastic performance. It was not just the three goals today it was also he was part of the team when they were in possession of the ball.

‘It was probably our best performance bearing in mind the quality of the opponents. It was necessary, we had to win the game and it will give us a boost for our next game.’

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