Posted: 22:31, August 27, 2022 | Updated: 23:09, 27 August 2022
A year on from his glorious return to Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo left before the happy ending away at St Mary’s with just one parting nod. He had graced the pitch for less than half an hour and was sent on as a second-half substitute to replace Jadon Sancho as Erik ten Hag made his changes to protect a slender lead. There was a glimmer of a goal for Ronaldo, a brief chance when the ball fell to his feet in the penalty area and was quickly closed by a sliding tackle from Moussa Genepo. Cristiano Ronaldo came on as a second-half substitute in Man United’s win over Southampton And an attempt to break out on the counter-attack failed when Ronaldo outpaced the recovery of Mohamed Salisso, 14 years his junior. There was an injury scare, which required treatment soon after a clumsy challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters, who also dared to outrun Ronaldo as he settled in at the back for Southampton. All in all, there was little positive impact from one of the greatest footballers of the modern era, which only reinforced the feeling that he could be on his way out of Old Trafford. “We plan with him,” ten Haag insisted when asked if this could be the last time we see Ronaldo in a Manchester United shirt. “Well, we want him to stay. That’s what we want.” Pressed on whether that meant he would not be allowed to leave, the United boss only added: “I hope so.” On BT Sport, Paul Scholes spoke of keeping his former team-mate. The 37-year-old has made clear his desire to leave United to play Champions League football “I thought watching the game today that they needed Cristiano, he can be that focal point that they needed centrally,” Scholes said. “He is 37 years old now. It’s not going to get away from people. He’s very good at keeping the ball up and getting on the end of crosses so I hope he doesn’t go. If he goes, they will need a centre-forward.’ However, doubts remain. It has been an anxious summer with Ronaldo being given permission to turn up late in pre-season amid a whirlwind of stories about agent Jorge Mendes offering his services to other clubs. Ten Haag, meanwhile, is reshaping that squad and praised Marcus Rashford for threatening the space behind Southampton’s back four, to follow up an impressive display in the same centre-forward role against Liverpool on Monday. “He was quite effective,” said the United boss. He understood that he must be a target sometimes. He was the one who created the situations. He was involved and played an important role in the first 15 minutes after half-time. “That’s what I expected when there’s a lot of pressure on the ball – that there’s a striker we can play over and he’s done really well.” Erik ten Hag insists he plans to keep Ronaldo but things could still change next week Rashford’s run created the space for Bruno Fernandes to score the only goal of the game early in the second half from Diogo Dalot’s cross. Fernandes ran to celebrate with substitutes Ronaldo and new £70m signing Casemiro as they warmed up. Fernandes is often more effective in Ronaldo’s absence and has lived up to his responsibility as captain. “That gives him a boost, Captain,” Ten Hag said. We saw that on Monday, where he played a great game, especially in the physical part, creating chances. Today he brought the same to the pitch and the finish was truly fantastic. I would also mention that it was a team goal.’ Casemiro came on to make his debut in the 80th minute. “It was really good for someone who has seen the Premier League, it’s a different style,” Ten Hag added. “Now he’s got pre-season training. He has played 90 minutes once. We have to include him in the team and for a way of playing with his teammates.’ Whether that will include Ronaldo, his old friend from Real Madrid, remains to be seen.
