Erik ten Hag says he will speak to Cristiano Ronaldo after the Manchester United striker stormed down the tunnel early during Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham.
Ronaldo was an unused substitute as United turned in their best performance of the season as they clearly dominated Tottenham at Old Trafford.
The 37-year-old didn’t hang around for the final whistle, he left the United bench, heading down the target during the 88th minute of play.
Quizzed on the incident post-match, ten Hag told Amazon Prime: ‘I’ve seen him. I didn’t speak to him after. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.’
Alan Shearer, on commentary on BT Sport, sympathised with ten Hag, saying the focus will now be on Ronaldo than those who impressed against Spurs.
‘It’s a difficult situation for him, we are talking about the bets player in the world, maybe the best player we have ever seen so he is under pressure from that point of view.
‘But it does make things difficult for the manager because he is going to be asked about that in the press conference.
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‘Whereas in reality he should be talking about every one of his players on the pitch tonight because they have all been impressive.
Marcus Rashford started ahead of Ronaldo up front, despite the Portuguese’s record against Tottenham of 14 goals in 20 appearances.
While explaining his decision to leave Ronaldo on the bench ahead of kick-off, ten Hag said: ‘You pick the line-up that you think has the most chance to win, and you have a game plan.
‘Cristiano [Ronaldo] is an important player and he can make the goal, he will come on and can make the difference.
‘I have to deal with all the players expectations, and I have to deal with developing this team. You have to make a game plan.
‘This is a good Tottenham team, a compact, a transition team with high intensity and I think this is the best way to start like this. You get more runs behind, more dynamic up front.’
