Cristiano Ronaldo stormed down the Old Trafford tunnel four minutes before the end of the Red Devils’ 2-0 win over Tottenham after finishing the game as an unused substitute.
The forward has made headlines in recent months regarding his displeasure at a lack of minutes at the club after trying to secure a move away from the club in the summer.
He was dropped again for the game against Tottenham after returning to the team following a spell on the bench, and was clearly frustrated again as he walked out on his team before the end of the game at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo stormed down the tunnel after being an unused substitute this evening
He was dropped from the United starting XI for the 2-0 win over Tottenham at Old Trafford
Ronaldo has regularly made his frustrations at a lack of minutes at the club clear
United boss Erik ten Hag, speaking after the game, said: ‘I have seen him, I will deal with that tomorrow, not today. We are celebrating this victory and we have to recover from this for Saturday.’
Ronaldo missed pre-season with United as he stayed home from their tour abroad to deal with personal issues.
He tried to earn a move to a Champions League club, but nothing materialised.
He has received criticism for his frustrations at not playing, despite United earning positive results while he was out the team.
He scored United’s winner against Everton earlier this month with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial out the team injured, though Rashford returned up front for the win over Tottenham.
Alan Shearer, who was on commentary for Amazon Prime Video during the match, said: ‘I understand his frustration but if you look at the bigger picture his team has put in a really good performance.
‘The manager had a big decision and it’s been proven right. You’re talking about maybe the best player we’ve ever seen, but it makes things difficult for the manager.
‘He’ll be asked about that but he should be talking about the players on the pitch tonight.’
Patrice Evra (right) leapt to the defence of his former United team-mate’s actions
Patrice Evra, working as a pundit on the game, leapt to Ronaldo’s defence.
He said: ‘Everyone is different. I want to stay on the United performance.
‘He might have said to ten Hag “I am going in”, and we are going to make a story just showing him walking. Maybe he said he needed some treatment.
‘I don’t want to find any excuse, but I want to be focused on the story of United and we have to stop talking every day about Cristiano.’
Thierry Henry, alongside Evra, added: ‘ten Hag has to deal with it. There was a game, a magnificent game for Man United, the story shouldn’t be Ronaldo walking off.’
Ronaldo was also clearly frustrated when he was substituted early against Newcastle
The forward greeted Theirry Henry before the Spurs game, but did not get on the pitch
Tim Sherwood, also working as a pundit on Prime Video, said: ‘I think it’s quite shocking. ten Hag made all his changes and Ronaldo has just gone down the tunnel. So it’s a public show of dissent against the manager.
‘It’s not a good look, in my opinion. I’m quite angry about it. I love Ronaldo but I think there are ways you go about it. He [Ten Hag] talked about in the Manchester derby about not putting him on the pitch because he wanted to show him respect, and I feel Ronaldo’s shown him a lack of disrespect by walking down the tunnel.’
Asked what he would say to Ronaldo, ex-Man United striker and Amazon pundit Dion Dublin said: ‘‘I’d probably want to get him around the throat and say “what are you doing?”.
‘It’s out of order. I love Ronaldo. Like Tim, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I think he should be getting more minutes and think he can make a difference more than most. However, the game’s still going on, your team-mates are still playing.
‘It basically says: “I don’t really care”. For me in the dressing room it says: “I’m off” and “I don’t really care about my team-mates”. I know he does and I know he’s passionate for playing for Man United, but tonight I think he’s massively in the wrong.
‘Myself and Tim are very old school about this. We have very strong values about togetherness and how we would deal with it in the dressing room would be very different to how they deal with it now, however, I don’t like a lack of respect for your team-mates.’
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