Cristiano Ronaldo may be one of the best footballers ever to grace Planet Earth, but even the greatest among us get brought crashing back down to reality just like the rest of us mere mortals.

The Portugal international, 36, scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the second half as Manchester United narrowly beat Norwich City 1-0 at Carrow Road. 

United had only managed to win three of their last eight games across all competitions before today. 

And anything but a win would have seen the club fall behind bitter rivals Arsenal and West Ham in the race for a place in the Champions League

But his 75th-minute penalty away against Norwich saw Ralf Rangnick's side finish the day in fifth place - on 27 points - while the Canaries stay rooted to the bottom of the table.

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Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford in the summer from Juventus for £12.85m - but his arrival has been met with criticism from some quarters.

His selection in the starting XI has also meant fellow strikers Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial have struggled for game time with both appearing in just five and seven league games respectively.

And that has been criticised by some fans and pundits alike, with Cavani arguably one of the best poachers in the world in that position. 

But in the 1-0 win over Norwich, the 36-year-old showed exactly why United signed him in the first place. 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal of the game

Speaking after the game, Smith complained afterwards it was 'as soft as soft can be', but Max Aarons clearly grabbed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner by the neck, before bringing him down with him like a sack of potatoes.  

Ronaldo shot to the left, Tim Krul dived to the right, and it was 1-0 to United. 

But that wasn't the only time Ronaldo found himself on his back that evening. 

Ronaldo tried to jump over Billy Gilmour in the second half which horrendously backfired as he ended up rolling around on the floor clutching his back in sheer agony.

Thankfully for United fans, the club legend gingerly got back to his feet, although he did appear to be in some slight discomfort.  

WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo tries to jump over Billy Gilmour but fails miserably

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