Cristiano Ronaldo underlined his longevity once more after his first-half double for Manchester United against Norwich City on Saturday helped the forward extend a remarkable goalscoring record across yet another season.
The Portuguese proved the initial bright spark for the Red Devils at Old Trafford against the relegation-threatened Canaries, with a brace of finishes seeing him write some impressive personal history once more.
He has now hit the 20-goal mark for the 16th consecutive season, a feat stretching back all the way to his first spell with United, long before he became a Real Madrid legend.
Ronaldo achieves latest history-making feat
Heading into Saturday's fixture, both the 37-year-old and his club needed a morale-boosting result after their loss to relegation-battling Everton last time out in the Premier League.
For the former at least, it was exactly what he set out to deliver, finding the back of the net within seven minutes to push his league tally deeper into double figures.
Then, a smart header just after the half-hour mark saw the veteran forward double his tally for the game and push him past the magic 20-goal mark for the season across all competitions for yet another campaign.
He then completed his hat-trick in the second half by scoring a free kick to make it 3-2 to United.
De Gea hails Ronaldo while Smith admits Norwich woes
Speaking after the full-time whistle, United goalkeeper David De Gea and Canaries boss Dean Smith were both quick to single out the Portuguese as the difference in the clash between the two.
"Ronaldo has scored three very important goals for us," the former stated. "We know we aren't playing very well but we got three points. We should control the game more against Norwich at home."
Smith was frustrated by his side's sloppiness against the star, adding: "Ronaldo is the difference but we have handed him the first two on a plate and [goalkeeper] Tim [Krul] should have saved the third."
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