COMMENT: Two goals. Two decisive goals. In the end, Cristiano Ronaldo's return as a Manchester United force was near perfect. For him. But even more so, for his manager...

Make no mistake, without Ronaldo on the pitch, the hosts weren't winning this game. In the clinches, Newcastle United were giving as good as they received. They were competitive. Focused. And even at times - with Allan Saint-Maximum leading the way - expansive. The headlines and the scoreline may read like this was a comfortable victory for the hosts. But without Ronaldo's intervention, United were never going to win this one.

But the Portuguese delivered. At the right moment. With the right action. Ronaldo found a way to win this game when it was up for grabs. United's new (or old) No7 showing just why his manager didn't blink when it became clear he was available from Juventus. From Erling Haaland. To Timo Werner. Right through to Harry Kane. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been scouring the planet to find his team a natural goal scorer. Someone, as he put it in the aftermath on Saturday, who "smells" the opportunity. And Ronaldo, with both his goals, delivered on that against Newcastle.

The first was the sort of goal so rarely seen from this United team. Yeah, it was a tap-in. But the timing of the goal. The instinct required to be alive to the half-chance. Only a natural goalscorer is taking advantage of that.

A limp, underwhelming first-half from the hosts was drawing to an end. So often, United's front men would be thinking about halftime. To get themselves off the pitch and seek a restart. But not Ronaldo. Two minutes into injury-time and he was still seeking that chance. And Freddie Woodman gifted it to him. A tap-in, sure. But how often in the past have we seen such openings go begging when it comes to this United attack? Focus. Concentration. Working right to the end. They're qualities not always seen in these United forwards. But it comes naturally to the 2021 version of Cristiano Ronaldo. And it's a quality which will win this team games when they're lacking inspiration.

Ronaldo celebrates his second goal in front of the Stretford end

The second of Ronaldo's brace was just as significant. At 1-1 the game was there for the taking. Ryan Fraser had just flashed a cross across David de Gea's area with the outside of his boot. Newcastle were humming. United were wobbling. But then came Ronaldo again. A surge of pace from Luke Shaw and a well timed lay-off gave his new teammate the chance to attack the inside-left channel. There was still a lot for Ronaldo to do. But he picked a spot under a slow-reacting Woodman and drove the ball between the Newcastle keeper's legs. Again, no other striker available to Solskjaer would be capable of such a finish at such a moment in a game. This is what a natural goalscorer gives you.

And that's why Solskjaer has brought him back. Ronaldo isn't the player who left Old Trafford 12 years ago. But this team doesn't need that player. Jadon Sancho is there to drop a shoulder and go past the fullback. Paul Pogba is there to flick the ball here, spray it there. This team has those players. But they've never had a goalscorer. A natural goalscorer. Ruud van Nistelrooy. Andy Cole. Ole Gunnar...

But now they have one. Now this United team doesn't need to overwhelm an opposition to win a game. In Ronaldo, they have that striker who won't blow it when that one in 90 minute chance comes. The small details. The one per centers. The type of moments - actions - that win a team trophies. United now have that player that makes them contenders.

Which is some improvement. With Ronaldo inside the opposition area, this United team are no longer pretenders. They're a genuine threat.

The best team since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down? Oh yeah, on paper, by a street. But Sancho still needs to find his way. The partnership of Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane still needs to bed down. And you can see the role of the No6 in this team becoming not only the most important in midfield - but for the overall balance of the XI - particularly if Pogba and Bruno Fernandes are to remain as fellow starters.

But what Ronaldo offers, with his goals, is time. Time for Sancho to find that belief that he belongs at this level. Time for Varane and Maguire to work eachother out. And time for Solskjaer to decide the defensive structure of his midfield. These issues can be ironed out in a winning team. Not a dominating team. Not a thrill-a-minute one. But a team that will win games as they work out through their growing pains.

It will be exactly what we witnessed on Saturday. Not a classic performance. But one made memorable by the instinct and actions of Solskjaer's new goalscorer. For Cristiano Ronaldo. For his manager. For what it promised, this return was near perfect.