Rio Ferdinand has praised Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo for coming off the bench to score his 700th goal against Everton on Sunday evening.

Ronaldo started United’s fixture against Everton from the bench but made his mark after being introduced in the 29th minute – scoring just 15 minutes later.

As a result, Ferdinand heaped praised on the 37-year-old – who became first player in footballing history to register that many career goals.

Speaking after the game, Ferdinand said: ‘It was from the worst to the best with Casemiro. This is Cristiano Ronaldo.

‘700 goals. That’s more than I had appearances. He would have been hurting on the bench and that is the answer, he is going out there with something to prove and he is doing it.’

Ronaldo replaced the injured Anthony Martial just 29 minutes in before making his mark a minute before the break.

The 37-year-old’s record-breaking goal came after Casemiro, who was at fault for the opening goal for Everton, slotted him in.

Ronaldo then held off pressure from Conor Coady before slotting in a sweet strike into Jordan Pickford’s bottom corner at the near post.

Ronaldo’s goal was also perfect timing for his side who had responded well after falling behind to an Alex Iwobi strike after five minutes, with Antony equalising soon after.

Ronaldo’s 700 goals have equated from his time at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United (twice), Real Madrid and Juventus.

He scored five goals in 31 appearances for Sporting, 450 in 438 matches for Real and 101 in 134 games for Juventus.

In his first spell for United he netted 118 times in 298 fixtures for the club and in his current second stint has 26 in 48 matches.

Meanwhile, on the international stage, Ronaldo has scored a world record 117 goals in 191 international games since making his Portugal debut in 2003.