'Time to unbalance the scale': Ronaldo braces for new challenge after 60th career hattrick

Following the stunning hattrick against Norwich on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo in his recent Twitter post has made clear his intentions about his next goal-scoring target. Manchester United's next trip is to Anfield where they will be taking on Liverpool. A victory at Liverpool will bring them level on points with Tottenham Hotspurs as the battle for fourth place intensifies.

Manchester United vs Norwich City: Cristiano Ronaldo hattrick and target ahead of Liverpool trip

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 55th career goal from a direct free-kick when he smacked a ferocious strike through the wall and into the bottom corner. Cristiano Ronaldo's hattrick was his 50th at club level and also the most important one for Manchester United as the club looks to seal the UEFA Champions League spot for next season.

Taking to social media, Ronaldo posted a picture of him standing at Old Trafford and a 'strong-arm' emoji wrote, "30 hat-tricks before 30 and 30 hat-tricks after 30. It’s time to unbalance the scale!". With 15 Premier League goals for the season, Cristiano Ronaldo now trails only Liverpool's Mo Salah (20) and Tottenham's Son Heung-Min (17) in the scoring charts.

Manchester United vs Norwich City highlights

Manchester United has been already knocked out of both domestic competitions and the UEFA Champions League, and the only saving face for Red Devils is by finishing inside the top four in the Premier League to qualify for next season's UCL. With the fight getting intense for the fourth spot, Manchester United had their sights set on the win over Norwich City.

The push for the top four started with Ronaldo scoring a first-half brace as the Red Devils played the pressing game and now allowing Norwich any breathing space. Ronaldo's first goal of the afternoon as he swept home Anthony Elanga's cross. The Portuguese captain doubled the lead with a header of Alex Telles' corner for his 20th goal of the season.

Norwich pulled one back through Kieron Dowell just before the end of the first half. The second half was a completely different affair as Norwich levelled the score thanks to strikes from Timo Pukki. David de Gea then had to produce a brilliant save to deny Pukki from completing the comeback. However, Ronaldo had the last laugh as he scored the winner for Manchester United with a thunderous freekick which Norwich keeper Tim Krull was unable to stop.