On Wednesday night, Cristiano Ronaldo was the toast of Old Trafford, clinching victory over Villarreal in the 95th minute. It was his fifth goal since his return and quite possibly the most important for a relieved Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Days later, however, the Portuguese was on the bench for the visit of Everton.
Manchester United have faced a run of three games in less than seven days by virtue of the early kick-off on Saturday, and Ronaldo was one of five changes from the Champions League fixture in midweek.
Instead, Solskjaer opted for a front four featuring Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Edinson Cavani.
Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho were also left on the bench, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka replaced Diogo Dalot at right-back. Fred and Luke Shaw are also back in.
While he didn’t refer to Ronaldo specifically, the United boss was asked by the club’s official channel for the reasons behind the changes.
“Wednesday night was a big effort, big emotional and physical output,” Solskjaer said.
“So we needed to freshen it up when it’s an early kick off, the start of this game is going to be very important, and we’ve got some very good players coming on. It’s a team we believe is going to take charge of the game.”
It was the first time Ronaldo had started a home game for United on the bench in the league since May 2007 – and that came on the final day of the season.
Ronaldo, 36, had previously started every game since re-signing from Juventus in August, with the exception of the League Cup defeat to West Ham for which he was not in the squad.
He then returned for another loss, this time to Aston Villa in the Premier League, but spared United’s blushes against Villarreal.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3mfveDz
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