Patrice Evra has offered up a new theory as to why Cristiano Ronaldo stormed down the Old Trafford tunnel early - he needed treatment.
Manchester United's 2-0 win over Tottenham was arguably their most dominant display to date under Erik ten Hag, but come full-time there was only one incident anyone was talking about. Minutes before the final whistle was blown, Ronaldo, who was an unused substitute, made his way back to the dressing room early.
Coverage of the game showed the 37-year-old walk off while the game was going on behind him, with Ronaldo momentarily glancing back to see the action. Ten Hag's remarks during his post-match presser were eye-opening as he revealed he had not given the forward permission to leave the field early.
"He was there, I have seen him but I didn't speak. I will deal with that tomorrow not today. We're celebrating this victory and now we have to recover and another big game on Saturday, Chelsea. The Premier League, so exciting," the United boss told Amazon Prime.
Just how Ten Hag deals with it remains to be seen, but it is just the latest low in a long, drawn-out saga surrounding Ronaldo's future at Old Trafford. United legend Evra also touched on the controversy while on punditry duty for Amazon Prime.
The Frenchman appeared to try and make an excuse for his former teammate, before then claiming that is exactly what he didn't want to do.
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"Everyone is different," Evra explained. "I want to stay on United performance, not to protect Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Maybe he needed some treatment? I don't want to find an excuse. We have to stop talking every day about Ronaldo."
Outside of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's antics, there is plenty for the Old Trafford faithful to be excited about in regard to that most recent performance.
Ten Hag's side battered Antonio Conte's men, with United registering 28 shots on goal over the course of the game as Hugo Lloris had his busiest night of the season so far.
The win puts the Red Devils in a strong position in the race for the top four, with United sitting fifth, one point behind fourth-placed Chelsea who slipped up with a 0-0 draw away at Brentford.
Considering the disastrous start to the season United endured, with back-to-back defeats by Brighton and Brentford in their opening two fixtures, Ten Hag has done a stellar job at turning the tide on their fortunes.
He has done so largely without the help of Ronaldo, who has been a passenger on the bench for the majority of the campaign having netted just twice all season, partly because of his reduced number of minutes.
