Manchester United clung on and managed to claim a point against Chelsea courtesy of the tenacity and stewardship of Cristiano Ronaldo’s equaliser and the forward was quick to hail the unwavering support and influence of the home fans at Old Trafford as the Red Devils fought back to claim a point against Chelsea.
It was clearly evident the Blues were decidedly the better side for the major part of the contest in the north west and United had been on the receiving end of damaging defeats in the recent fortnight, losing away at Liverpool and Arsenal to all but end their Champions League ambitions. And it did look aas if they were again heading for another defeat when Marcos Alonso nailed one for Chelsea on Thursday night.
thankfully for the Red Devils it was a gung-ho and determined Ronaldo who quickly got United back level as he unleashed a thunder of an equaliser in front of the Stretford End. Ronaldo was full of praise for the efforts of the Old Trafford faithful who have undoubtedly endured a tough time this term with United failing to deliver on numerous occasions, .
He said on social media: “Thanks for the support in Old Trafford tonight. As always, our fans were amazing in their effort to help the team”. Ronaldo has carried United at times this term, smashing the 20 goal barrier on his return to the Premier League.
The No 7 faces an uncertain future with Erik ten Hag arriving to replace interim boss Ralf Rangnick in the summer. The Dutchman’s style of play doesn’t appear to suit Ronaldo and the current man in the dugout gave no assurances over what was next for the Portuguese star.
He told Sky Sports: “It is Erik’s and Cristiano’s decision for what he can do next but today his performance was really great.” On the performance Rangnick added: “We showed a good reaction in the second half, and it was a great finish from Ronaldo. In the first half we had our problems and we needed a few great saves from David de Gea.
“Second half we did better and we got more control. You could see they are a top team, no coincidence they won the Champions League and we don’t have much confidence and had eight players missing. Although it was still a lucky draw, we earned it. At times we saw the gap, but they played with their best XI and we had players missing.
“We have problems with defending, not compact enough and not physical enough. Not only the goal Cristiano scored but his whole performance, his attitude at age of 37, this is not normal to do that. If he plays like he did today he can still be a big help to this team.”