Manchester United came from behind to win 3-2 in Cyprus against Omonia in the Europa League on Thursday.
After the first-half fiasco, it was substitute Marcus Rashford who inspired the comeback by grabbing a brace and providing the assist for fellow substitute Anthony Martial to score.
The two forwards came off the bench for Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes respectively.
Erik ten Hag fielded a relatively strong starting XI, as he handed former Real Madrid duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro starts after they both started on the bench against Manchester City.
Ronaldo mustered a much-improved performance to help his side come out victors on what almost turned out to be a disappointing night.
source: sofascore.com
source: sofascore.com
However, on another day, his contributions or lack thereof in terms of missed opportunities could have cost his side.
The Portuguese registered an assist to his name, for Rashford’s second goal of the match.
Ronaldo, in the 90 minutes he was on the pitch, attempted an enormous eight shots at goal. Out of these, only one was on target. That came in the first half.
Six were off target, with the striker seeing one other shot blocked. He also hit the woodwork once with the entire goal gaping from close range. How he failed to score will forever remain a mystery.
Ronaldo failed to successfully complete any of the two dribbles he attempted – a testament to his waning strength as the years look to have caught up with him.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had 49 touches of the ball.
Out of the 28 passes he attempted, 25 were successful – a pass accuracy of 89%. Three of these were key passes.
The 37-year-old won three out of seven ground duels and two out of four aerial contests that he contested.
Finally, Ronaldo lost possession 9 times.
While yesterday’s showing was slightly better than his recent displays, there is still much work to be done by the player if he is to end the constant debates surrounding his role within the team.
At one point, it seemed like all his teammates were trying to help him score in a bid to increase his confidence bu United’s No 7 just could not take those chances.
Ten Hag will be disappointed to see how the Portuguese just cannot seem to find the back of the net even with the easiest of opportunities.
