Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed a request from Erik ten Hag ’s assistant coach Steve McClaren to acknowledge Manchester United fans after their humiliating four-goal loss at Brentford.
Four goals in 25 first half minutes from Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbuemo left a shell-shocked United reeling and unable to respond. It was a humiliating defeat for United, who have now lost each of their opening Premier League matches.
On another afternoon in which United’s on-field shortcomings were clear for all to see, the only positive from a club point of view was the travelling fanbase – who continued to chant for the club throughout the match despite being subjected to a humbling showing from their side.
A selection of United players went to acknowledge the travelling support after the final whistle, with the majority of the away section remaining in the stadium until after the match was completed in order to continue to show their disapproval with the club’s Glazer ownership.
A delegation led by David De Gea, Scott McTominay, Anthony Elanga, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Donny Van de Beek and Diogo Dalot went over to the United fans who were still in the stadium to apologise for their abject performance.
Despite chanting their support for their club throughout the match, many United fans were understandably furious with what they had seen from their side – with that group of players accepting that they deserved the criticism.
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However, one player absent from that delegation of players to acknowledge the fans was Ronaldo, and that was despite the insistence from Ten Hag’s assistant McClaren for him to do so. According to Manchester Evening News , the two could be seen on the sidelines exchanging some words, before Ronaldo went down the tunnel.
United’s club captain Harry Maguire did not go over to the furious United travelling contingent, although he did acknowledge them from a distance with applause before following Ronaldo down the tunnel and off the pitch.
Ronaldo faced criticism on occasions last season when he did not go over to acknowledge United’s travelling fans during away matches, but this was the first occasion when he appeared to ignore a direct instruction from a member of the coaching staff to do so.
