Manchester United legend Gary Neville did not hesitate in singling out Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes for criticism and blasted the Portuguese duo for their ungracious actions during and after Manchester United’s\u00a01-1 draw with Newcastle on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Ralf Rangnick\u2019s side didn\u2019t look at all convincing and were lucky to scrape through with a point from the Tyneside encounter with a determined and more superior Newcastle selection, after having been second best in the first half and without showing much improvement after the interval.<\/p>\n
The Red Devils were left trailing when Allan Saint-Maximin slipped past two defenders and curled home a snazzy shot, despite being off balance, past the helpless David de Gea. Newcastle was unfortunate in missing several chances to double their lead and Rangnick\u2019s changes paid dividends when substitute Edinson Cavani prodded home to equalise in the 70th<\/sup> minute.<\/p>\n The Man United squad could only produce a dismal display overall and largely have De Gea to thank for their point due to his immaculate display in the Man United goal to save the day for the visitors. The Spaniard produced fine saves to prevent Saint-Maximin with a close-range block early in the second half and also denied Miguel Almiron later on.<\/p>\n Unexpectedly, it was Portuguese striker Ronaldo who provided one of the most disappointing performances in United colors and was booed throughout the match, clearly unable to contain his frustrtion on the pitch as he struggled to make an impact, even throwing his arms up towards his team-mates at times in trying to dodge the bullet for his own drab performance.<\/p>\n His Portuguese teammate Bruno Fernandes was also guilty of finger-pointing, despite the obvious fact that the Portuguese pair were in no way able to live up to their billing as among the best in the United team as Rangnick\u2019s side stuttered to a disappointing draw.<\/p>\n Ronaldo, in his usual ungracious pass-the-buck-and-storm-off-in-a-huff style, again opted to head straight for the tunnel at the final whistle instead of going over humbly to thank the fans who made the trip to the North East.<\/p>\n Sky Sports pundit Neville unhesitantly lambasted the 36-year-old\u2019s actions while slamming Fernandes for \u201cwhinging\u201d at his team-mates.<\/p>\n “I said it after the Everton game earlier on in the season when Cristiano walked off and I thought it put pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He\u2019s run off again tonight,\u201d Neville said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.<\/p>\n “He ran off at Watford when the manager was going to get sacked and everyone knew he was going to get sacked\u2026 and at Norwich.<\/p>\n “[Ronaldo and] Bruno, those are the two senior players in that dressing room. It\u2019s devastating for the young players if the two best players in the team are looking at the others as if they\u2019re not good enough.<\/p>\n “Cavani takes that away because I don\u2019t think he wilts in the presence of Ronaldo or a Fernandes.<\/p>\n “He stands up to them and helps the other younger players on the pitch. He needs to be on the pitch.<\/p>\n “They need to rid of that whingey attitude, they really do.<\/p>\n “You\u2019ve got to go and clap the fans at the end of the game. I don\u2019t care how you\u2019ve played, I don\u2019t care what the result is, get over to the fans and clap them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to do that, particularly when you\u2019re the best player in the world and one of the best of all time.”<\/p>\n United boss Rangnick also clearly expressed his unhappiness with how his side performed, despite extending his unbeaten record with United to four games.<\/p>\n “I didn’t like the performance at all,\u201d he told Sky Sports after the game.<\/p>\n \u201cToday we didn’t control the game apart from very few moments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s all about energy, physicality and who wins the second balls. In all those areas we weren’t at our best.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing is we got a point but the performance needs to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"