Ralf Rangnick insists he has no issues with Cristiano Ronaldo's reaction to being substituted in Manchester United's Premier League win at Brentford.
Ronaldo was replaced by Marcus Rashford in the 71st minute and could be seen demanding to know why he had been taken off with United 2-0 up.
Rashford made it 3-0 in the 77th minute with his first goal since October 30 and United eventually prevailed 3-1 for just their fifth league away win of the campaign.
After Rashford scored, Rangnick approached Ronaldo, sat in the gangway by the bench, and explained his thinking behind the change.
Ronaldo petulantly discarded a tracksuit top when Sir Alex Ferguson hooked him in the May 2009 derby at Old Trafford with United 2-0 up, having scored the opening goal. His reaction at Brentford was more restrained but the Portuguese was still in a demonstrative mood.
"He was asking why me and why do you take me off," Rangnick explained. "I said, 'listen, I have to take the decision in the interest of the team and the club and we had exactly the same situation five days ago at Villa Park, being 2-0 up with 15 minutes to play and we didn’t want to make the same mistake again'.
"I decided to switch to a back five with Harry Maguire and bring on Marcus as another fast winger on the right-hand side and I think it was the right decision.
"Cristiano was not happy. He’s a goalscorer, he wished to stay on and maybe score himself. But, for us, it was more important to be compact, that we had enough legs and enough strong headers to defend their free-kicks and set-pieces.
"When we scored the third I said exactly that to him and I said, 'look Cristiano, I understand you're still ambitious and want to score yourself, maybe in a couple of years when you’re a head coach yourself you will hopefully take the same decision and be in the same role I was today after 75 minutes'.
"I didn't expect him to hug me after being substituted. I know goalscoring players, how they think, and I have to take my decisions in the interests of the team and the club and this is exactly what I told him.
"I have no issues whatsoever with Cristiano but again, he came back from a little injury, he didn't train for one-and-a-half weeks, and being 2-0 up with 15 minutes to play, having players like Marcus on the bench and even Anthony Martial, why should I not make use of that? And that's why I would always do it again in a situation like that.
"I've been here now for six weeks, I've never had any kind of issue with Cristiano. We spoke before the Cup game against Aston Villa, and before the league game against Aston Villa he had an issue with his hip flexor and we agreed between the two of us it would be better that he has no problems with that kind of injury anynmore, that's why he was not part of the squad in those two games.
"Today, he was available today and that's why I played him from the start. No issues whatsoever. For the future, the most important thing is we win games and this is first."
