Cristiano Ronaldo has been caught taunting Newcastle fans prior to his awful display for Manchester United on Monday night.
The Portugal international, who was taking part in a shooting drill, was greeted with a chorus of boos at St James’ Park as he lined up to take a shot at goal.
However, when he calmly slotted the ball into the net, he turned to the Newcastle faithful and cupped his ears with a smirk on his face.
@utfm
Joelinton is the better ##7 🇧🇷 ##ronaldo ##cristianoronaldo ##manutd ##newcastle ##premierleague
However, Magpies fans had the last laugh as Newcastle kept Ronaldo quiet for the 90 minutes to earn a hard-fought point.
Newcastle might have felt they deserved more from the Premier League clash, coming so very close to getting an impressive three points.
Allan Saint-Maximin hit a fine first half goal, giving Eddie Howe’s side the lead after seven minutes and they were well worth that advantage for over an hour as Ralf Rangnick’s side struggled.
However substitute Edinson Cavani scored a scarcely-deserved equaliser and it required some typical heroics from David de Gea to prevent Miguel Almiron getting a late Newcastle winner.
Player ratings
Newcastle: Dubravka (6), Manquillo (7), Schar (7), Lascelles (7), Krafth (8), Fraser (7), Shelvey (7), Sean Longstaff (7), Joelinton (9), Saint-Maximin (9), Wilson (7).
Subs: Murphy (7), Almiron (6), Gayle (6).
Man Utd: De Gea (7), Dalot (7), Varane (6), Maguire (5), Telles (6), McTominay (6), Fred (5), Fernandes (6), Rashford (5), Greenwood (5), Ronaldo (6).
Subs: Cavani (8), Sancho (6), Matic (6).
Man of the match: Joelinton
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe: “We’re disappointed, we felt we deserved to win. I don’t think we deserved to concede. How De Gea saved that shot from Almiron, I don’t know. But hopefully we’ve seen the beginning of a new team. But for a bit more luck, we could have won the game.”
Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick: “I did not like it at all. We were trying to get better at controlling games. Today we did not control the game, apart from very few moments, at all. It was all about energy, about physicality, and who wins the second balls. In all those areas we were not at our best today. In the end, we got a point, that is the good thing. But the overall performance has to get better.”
Gary Neville was absolutely appalled with the ‘shocking’ and ‘poor’ performance from the Red Devils in the first-half.
🗣 “They are a bunch of whingebags. They are absolutely shocking out there.”@GNev2 has nothing positive to say about Manchester United’s first half performance pic.twitter.com/KsCDORbUF9
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) December 27, 2021
“You don’t want to go overboard, they’ve been off for 16 days, they’ve obviously got a new manager, trying to get used to a new system, the balance of the team isn’t right.”
“But I was worried after Norwich, there was no pressing and no urgency. The basics of the game. Every single battle – they’ve lost.”
“That’s a really poor performance there. They’ve not done one single thing right, and there’s not one single player who can go in at halftime and say they’ve done their jobs or even themselves justice.”
Presenter (Dave Jones): “Any positives?”
Neville: “Nothing. Honestly I can’t say anything other than the fact that they’ve gone 16 days without a game, there’s potentially some sort of reason there.”
“I’m not really looking at that to be honest, because there’s still basics of the game you can do properly, which is win your battles, go into tackles properly, show a little bit of urgency and look like it matters.”
“They’re whinging at each other, they’re a bunch of whingebags! Watch them on that pitch, I’m not going to go into the names.”
“Honestly, they’re whinging at each other, their arms are up in the air, they’re sort of complaining about everything! Honestly, absolutely shocking out there in that first half.”
“To be honest with you, they got the last manager the sack! Ralf Rangnick’s not going to get sacked, he’s only had two or three weeks with them, but they’ll get a lot of managers the sack, that lot, if they carry on like that.”
“That’s a really really poor performance. It’s only 45 minutes but they’ve got to sort themselves out. Massively below anything that’s expected.”
Twitter users reacted after Cristiano Ronaldo is caught taunting Newcastle fans prior to his awful display which saw him storm down the tunnel at full time…
@ofentse_kgotle: Newcastle fans are having Ronaldo 😭😭😭 love it
@NeilBrett4: Ronaldo missing the ball with an attempt at goal, and the Newcastle fans all jump up to cheer as if they had scored 😂 Quality.
@Craig_Honeyman: He was awful tonight. Offered absolutely nothing.
@MrsDJ_16: Cristiano Ronaldo is a moaning prick, pass it on #NUFC
@bkelly776: Possibly the most unlikeable player in the league. It’s all about him.
@4shaann: Geordies booing Ronaldo and giving him grief like they haven’t all took a photo of him to say they’ve seen him in person
@supanova_7: @GNev2 absolutely nailed it. The bare minimum irrespective of the results is to acknowledge the fans, home or away. Walking off sulking and not clapping your fans after a game is unforgivable. Win, lose or draw acknowledge the support.
@DouzisApology: Finished player.Funniest part is that he was one of the worst players on the pitch. Brought nothing to the game.
@JoshAHobbs: Are people actually surprised that he’s a knobhead?
@NUFCIrving1010: His attitude stank tonight. Constant moaning, lack of pressing, sulking. On another day, could’ve seen red too
Probably summarises the fan/player relationship that they’ve got going on at United at the moment…absolutely non-existent.
Couldn’t be further from what Jurgen Klopp has installed into players, club staff & supporters at #LFC. All fighting for the same cause.
— Keifer MacDonald (@KeiferMacd) December 27, 2021
Ronaldo straight down the tunnel at full time. No acknowledgement of travelling fans who face 150 miles back home in the rain. No acknowledgement of opponents. Does it every week. Abysmal. He is part of this team and should be reminded of that.
— Ian Ladyman (@Ian_Ladyman_DM) December 27, 2021
I can safely say the wait to see Ronaldo play wasn’t worth it…soz Ronny!
We played for our life tonight! Let’s see what this transfer window thing is all about, eh?! #NUFC #NEWMUN #Ronaldo #NUFCFans #newcastleunited #eddiehowesblackandwhitearmy pic.twitter.com/RSYR6oxz3Z
— Sarah (@juniorwales) December 27, 2021
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