Cristiano Ronaldo once again made the headlines, this time however for his performance off the pitch. Manchester United produced a brilliant performance against Tottenham Hotspur as Erik ten Hag’s men earned a dominating 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s side. Second-half strikes from Fred and Bruno Fernandes sealed the deal for the Red Devils, as Ronaldo who had terrorised the Tottenham team last season in the same fixture with a hat-trick watched from the bench.
However, the 37-year-old didn’t even watch the full game as he angrily walked down the tunnel even before the referee blew the full-time whistle. Ronaldo was an unused substitute on the night as Ten Hag dropped him back on the bench after handing him a rare start against Newcastle United in the last game. Moreover, the Dutchman utilised only three substitutions instead of five, adding to the frustration of the Portuguese who wasn’t seen in the dressing room post the game, reports The Athletic.
Cristiano Ronaldo snubs celebrations with United teammates
After a underwhelming 21/22 season which saw Manchester United fail to qualify for the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo asked for the club to let him leave this summer where he could continue his expedition in the European competition. The Red Devils however refused to let their star man leave as he had to settle for Europa League for the first time in his career. Ronaldo’s miseries piled up as new manager Erik ten Hag has regularly benched him this season, despite being the team’s best player last season with 24 goals in 39 games.
The Portugal captain has felt betrayed by the club as well as the manager who has opted for a younger starting eleven to establish his high-pressing football. As a result, Cristiano Ronaldo became a victim starting just 2 games in 8 Premier League outings. Further on, Ten Hag has rather made the five-time Champions League winner a regular starter in the Europa League, with 4 starts in 4 games.
While being touted as a ‘big game player’, Cristiano has been benched by Ten Hag in all the big games so far this season against Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and now Tottenham. On the other hand, a Ronaldo-less United has managed to win against all of them except the Manchester Derby. Ten Hag as a result is not willing to jeopardize his system just to fit in the former Real Madrid star. Ronaldo finally took out his frustration against Spurs, as he headed towards the tunnel during the closing stages his team’s win over Spurs.
He even gave a miss to the gaffer’s dressing room talk and team’s celebration post the huge win. With only a month left for the World Cup to kick-off, the Portugal captain wants to play as many minutes as possible since he will be leading his country in the tournament. Furthermore, United have reportedly green light Ronaldo to pursue a move out in January as many prompted his antics against Spurs as ‘last act’ at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Ten Hag talked about the incident in his post-match presser as he said:
“I was there, I did see him [Cristiano Ronaldo] but I haven’t spoke to him. I will deal with that tomorrow, we are celebrating this victory and now we have to recover from this on Saturday against Chelsea, another big game and that’s what makes the Premier League so exciting. We want to focus on this team, it was a magnificent performance from all 11 players.
“I have to mention, I said 11 players, I have to correct myself: it was a performance also from the subs who came on who had a good role and, once again, it was a squad performance. And, in answer to your question, we deal with that tomorrow and what we have seen today was 11 players who defend, 11 players who attack there was a lot of dynamic in the attack as well. I am pleased with that but I won’t say I am totally satisfied because good is not good enough, that has to be the standard here.”
United are next up against Chelsea this weekend, as Ronaldo’s chances of being involved in the clash are seemingly less after he threw the tantrums. Ten Hag has every reason to give him another snub and pick the same line-up which started against Spurs.