Ronaldo, Salah, Kane: Who has scored the most match-winning goals in the Premier League?

Cristiano Ronaldo is inevitable.

Just when Manchester United needed him most, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner delivered in a big way with his finest performance since returning to Old Trafford against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

With Harry Kane scoring a penalty and Harry Maguire putting through his own net, the Red Devils needed to pick themselves up and go again on multiple occasions if they wanted to stay in the hunt for the top four.

Thanks to Ronaldo, that was exactly what they were able to do with an astonishing longe-range strike, instinctive penalty-box finish and a glorious late header ensuring that United outscored their opponents.

Not only did it mark the Portuguese star’s second hat-trick in the famous red jersey, but it also secured an eye-catching statistic that shows just how important he’s been for the Premier League giants this season.

That’s because it was the sixth time across the 2021/22 campaign that Ronaldo has scored the match-winning goal in a league game, which is the joint-most in England’s top-flight so far.

With game-deciding strikes against Newcastle United, Arsenal, Norwich City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham twice, only Mohamed Salah can match Ronaldo’s tally of six this season.

Now, that’s an impressive statistic on its own terms, but one that nevertheless had us wondering where Ronaldo places in the all-time list of match-winning goals in the Premier League. Interesting, right?

Well, thankfully, the data gurus at Transfermarkt keep track of that exact statistic and it turns out that Ronaldo’s deciding goal against Spurs actually pushed him into the top 20 with a total of 37.

Astonishingly, with Ronaldo having scored 96 times across his entire Premier League career, it means that