“Thank you for your support Old Trafford” – Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after brief cameo off the bench during Manchester United’s win over Liverpool 

Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo thanked the Old Trafford faithful for their support in Monday’s (August 22) Premier League win over bitter rivals Liverpool.

Having succumbed to consecutive Premier League defeats to Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, respectively, United welcomed the Reds for their Premier League matchday three clash on Monday. The Red Devils nicked an important 2-1 win on the night, with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford netting for the hosts and Mohamed Salah scoring Liverpool’s solitary goal.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who started in last weekend’s (August 13) 4-0 defeat to Brentford, was not in the starting XI and only made a cameo appearance. Taking to Instagram, he patted his team on the back for their encouraging display while also thanking the Theater of Dreams for their support. He wrote:

“Well done @manchesterunited 💪🏽💪🏽Thank you for your support Old Trafford 🙏🏽”

Cristiano Ronaldo, whose agent is still looking for ways to facilitate his Manchester United exit (via Fabrizio Romano), is yet to score for the Red Devils this season. He netted 24 goals in 38 appearances across competitions in the 2021-22 season, emerging as their leading goalscorer.

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Cristiano Ronaldo had an uneventful cameo in Manchester United’s triumph over Liverpool

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag started with Marcus Rashford as his center-forward and deployed Anthony Elanga on the left flank. At half-time, Anthony Martial was brought in Elanga’s place and he swapped positions with Rashford. The duo combined for United’s second goal on Monday, with Martial playing Rashford through with a perfectly-weighted pass.

Despite having the five-time Ballon d’Or winner at his disposal, Ten Hag did not opt to bring him on until the 86th minute. When brought on, Ronaldo struggled to adjust to the pace of the game, skied an effort from the edge of the box (90th minute), and gave the ball away cheaply. In the 10 minutes he played, the former Real Madrid man had zero shots on target, made one accurate pass, lost two of four duels, and ceded possession thrice.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Ten Hag restores Ronaldo into the XI or continues with his winning lineup when the Red Devils take on Southampton on Saturday (August 27).