Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo walked down the tunnel five minutes before the final whistle despite not playing in last Wednesday night’s win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Ronaldo started to leave the bench and walk the tunnel at Old Trafford at the 89th minute, when United still had a substitution option and was up 2-0.
He showed no sign of rushing someone in need of a restroom. Some fans held out their hands to Ronaldo and waited for a high-five, but he just walked straight into the tunnel with a blank expression on his face.
United head coach Erik ten Hag replaced a position compared to the draw with Newcastle last week, when Ronaldo returned to the bench to make way for Marcus Rashford. Supporting Rashford is Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and Antony Santos.
Ten Hag made the first substitution in the 76th minute, bringing in Scott McTominay to replace Antony after Manchester United had taken a two-goal lead thanks to Fred and Bruno Fernandes.
The Dutch coach brought in Anthony Elanga and Christian Eriksen in the 87th minute in place of Sancho and Casemiro. Immediately after the substitution, Ronaldo got up and left the bench.
This is not the first time Ronaldo has left the field before the end of the game at the Red Devils. In a friendly match against Rayo Vallecano on July 31, he was substituted after the first half and left before the end of the match.
His action on Wednesday night was more serious when he was still able to enter the field, but before that, not to mention this was a nail game in the Premier League.
Ronaldo has scored twice in 12 games for United this season, half of which he started. When he was substituted in the draw against Newcastle on October 16, he was not satisfied. At that time, Ten Hag thought that this was normal because every player wanted to play.
