Ronaldo dedicates 100th Premier League goal to late baby son

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Manchester United's Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday dedicated his 100th English Premier League goal to his deceased son.

Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 at London's Emirates Stadium, where the Gunners crowd applauded Ronaldo in the seventh minute to display support and respect for the 37-year-old forward whose newborn baby boy died earlier this week.

Portuguese left back Nuno Tavares scored an early goal to give a 1-0 lead to Arsenal. Man Utd goalkeeper David De Gea saved Bukayo Saka's shot, but Tavares followed the rebound to score his first goal for Arsenal.

Arsenal doubled the gap in the 32nd minute as Saka was fouled by Manchester United left back Alex Telles in the area. After a VAR review, Arsenal were awarded a penalty that was successfully converted by Saka.

Two minutes later, Ronaldo scored in close range to narrow the gap to one. Ronaldo pointed to the sky to pay tribute to his late baby son.

Manchester United were awarded a penalty in the 55th minute when Tavares handballed in the box. But Bruno Fernandes hit the goalpost to miss it.

Arsenal cemented their home victory after their third goal. Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka fired a left-footed long range shot to beat De Gea in the 70th minute.

Not only Arsenal fans showed their respect for Ronaldo, but also Liverpool fans had done the same.

In a Tuesday Premier League match at the Anfield Stadium, Liverpool fans chanted their famous "You'll Never Walk Alone" anthem to share Ronaldo's grief as Liverpool's home ground saw emotional moments.

Liverpool won that match 4-0 in which Egyptian star Mohamed Salah scored twice.

After Saturday's win, Arsenal have 60 points in 33 matches to climb to the fourth spot in the Premier League table.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are now in the sixth position with 54 points in 34 games.

Manchester City and Liverpool are the 2022 English title contenders.

Man City have bagged 77 points in 32 matches, while second-place Liverpool clocked up 76 points to chase the leaders.