Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United an early Christmas present as he netted a brace to seal a 2-1 home win against Everton.
The mercurial winger opened the scoring by rifling home a left-footed strike in the 22nd minute, but Everton responded quickly through a Cahill header.
Ronaldo slotted in the winner from the spot after veteran Ryan Giggs had been tripped by Pienaar, and this win allowed the Red Devils to keep up the pressure on table-toppers Arsenal.
Sir Alex Ferguson must have been very pleased with Ronaldo's overall contribution, when he told ManUtd.com, "The boy really has got everything and we're expecting goals from him all the time. I don't think he ever made a mistake - he was absolutely perfect, it was a marvellous performance from him."
The visitors came to Old Trafford on the back of a 13-match unbeaten streak and started confidently even without their key midfielder, Mikel Arteta. David Moyes and his men had a very defensive game plan which looked to be working very well until Ronaldo stunned them with his first goal. The Portuguese international took the ball around Lee Carsley and released a swerving shot which left Tim Howard rooted to the ground.
Everton come out of their shell slowly and it took them only five minutes to equalize when United's defence failed to deal with Pienaar's cross, which was met by an unmarked Cahill.
Things were starting to look much brighter for Everton. They had a couple of good counter-attack chances in the second-half as Manchester United were visibly frustrated by the Great Blue Wall lead by Everton's central defensive pair Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka.
Tevez and Rooney both had great opportunities, but were either denied by Howard's excellent shot-stopping or their own wastefulness. The introduction of Louis Saha indicated the importance of collecting a 3 points, and United's big break finally arrived when Giggs was brought down by Pienaar's reckless trip which must have left David Moyes hugely disappointed.
Everton boss David Moyes was not too scathing about Pienaar's crucial contribution in conceding the spot kick. 'I thought it was a penalty. It was just a moment of madness for Steven,' he said.
Ronaldo displayed his nerves of steel as he converted the penalty and saved United yet again.
"I'm very happy with Christmas coming up. I think Father Christmas gave me my present early. With the next few games, there is not too much time to rest, so it was important to win to stay near the top.", said Ronaldo after the game.
With many more points waiting to be collected this festive period, Ferguson must be hoping Ronaldo will continue to receive more presents from Santa in the upcoming matches.
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