Former Bayern Munich midfielder, Owen Hargreaves has said he laughs to himself when people criticise Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former England midfielder slammed those saying the Portuguese is the problem In the Manchester United team, adding that without Ronaldo, United would be nowhere near where they are now.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to help Manchester United climb to fifth place in the league table on Saturday.
The Portugal legend scored two goals inside 32 minutes but two goals from the visitors either side of half-time set up a tense ending to the game.
With 14 minutes to go, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner stepped up to take a free-kick, and rifled it past Tim Krul to earn Ralf Rangnick’s side all three points.
“I was just laughing to myself when people criticise Cristiano Ronaldo and say he’s the problem,” Owen told Premier League Productions after the match.
“How on earth is he the problem? He’s one of the only reasons they are where they are.
“David De Gea has been their player of the season, and Cristiano Ronaldo is a close second. Not many people played well today, but Cristiano did.
“That game could’ve been anything, but Ronaldo gets the job done we know that. And credit it to him. He just showed he’s huge in big moments.”
