Ronaldo bests George's United goal scoring record

THE BEST: Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his second goal against Bolton.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

Manchester: Alex Ferguson tends to shun players with inflated egos. Just ask David Beckham.

But the veteran Manchester United manager can't stop lauding the sublime skills of the player who inherited Beckham's No. 7 shirt - Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese winger scored two more goals on Tuesday night to seal a 2-0 victory over Bolton and put United three points clear of Arsenal atop the Premier League.

After breaking the deadlock 10 minutes earlier, Ronaldo scored from a dipping free kick - his 33rd goal in all competitions to eclipse George Best's season-leading tally for a United winger in 1967/8.

"He's phenomenal," Ferguson said. "It speaks everything for the player. I don't think there is a winger in this world that can do that and that's the measure of the quality of the lad and his scoring ability."

The precision deliveries of Beckham are a distant and faded memory at Old Trafford thanks to Ronaldo, who joined from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 as Beckham left for Real Madrid following a falling out with Ferguson.

"Ronaldo's free kick was marvelous," Ferguson said.

"He does practice them, as we know, and he has a technique, but the practice thing is the most important aspect in terms of getting shots on target."

Gary Megson and the Bolton team were in awe of Ronaldo.

"It was genius from probably the best player in the world at the moment," the Trotters manager said.

"Everyone in the dressing room afterwards was talking about how he does it. We have seen him do it twice now and the truth is we just don't know how he does it."

Ronaldo was also handed the captaincy for the first time.

"Cristiano looks for that kind of responsibility, I think he's very comfortable with it," Ferguson said. "Not everyone wants to be captain to be honest with you, but he carries the mantle very well."

And it didn't overwhelm the 23-year-old Portugal international.

"It is always good to be captain at this massive club," said Ronaldo, who contemplated leaving after being blamed for a red card given to England striker and United teammate Wayne Rooney at the 2006 World Cup.