Cristiano Ronaldo should apologise to Anthony Elanga for his substitution outburst at Brentford on Wednesday night.
Those are the thoughts of Paul Merson, who has taken aim at the Manchester United star.
The Red Devils secured a 3-1 win in west London earlier this week with Elanga opening the scoring at the Brentford Community Stadium.
At 2-0 Ralf Rangnick rang the changes, hauling off Ronaldo with 20 minutes to go.
The Portuguese star was less than impressed and made his feelings clear before questioning the decision whilst sat on the bench.
His antics deflected away from United's performance and the display of their young winger, who excellently found the back of the net.
Merson believes the No 7, who he claimed was now a "shadow" of his former self, should make amends for his actions.
Have Your Say! Was Ronaldo wrong to the react the way he did at Brentford? Tell us your prediction here.
"Cristiano owes Anthony Elanga a big apology," Merson wrote in the Daily Star.
"What he did against Brentford spoiled the youngster’s big day – and it was so childish.
"The poor kid. He starts his first Premier League game of the season, scores for Manchester United.
"And then Ronaldo gets substituted, strops off and has a hissy fit. As soon as it happened as I said to my mate: ‘You watch, you won’t even know the kid has scored now.’
"It was unbelievable for someone who’s been around the game that long to do that and take the headlines away from Elanga.
"It’s not happening for him. I went to the game with my boy, to show him Ronaldo. One of the greatest players of all time.
"He’s a shadow of that player. An absolute shadow."
Rangnick took time to explain his decision to the 36-year-old forward.
The German stopped short of blaming his player for his the reaction, understanding his desire to score goals but felt his antics were not in the best interest of the team.
“I don’t blame him for that but obviously any manager would wish it shouldn’t be too emotional and also in front of the TV cameras I don’t think this will be for the benefit of anyone: not to his benefit or teammates,” he said.
“It’s an emotional game and players are emotional and I didn’t take it personally at all.
“I didn’t at all see or interpret that he was challenging me.
"This was not the first time – if you have a look at the moment when Sir Alex [Ferguson] replaced him or other coaches, his reaction was pretty similar, which shows in the end it has got nothing to do with the manager. It’s about his own ambition and desire to stay on the pitch."
