Aheed Abrar
Steve Nicol believes Cristiano Ronaldo missed his chances as Manchester United lost to Real Sociedad
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has seemingly blamed Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United losing to Real Sociedad in the Europa League. The Spanish side visited Old Trafford and took the three points home.
In the 14th minute of the game, a loose ball broke Ronaldo’s way. The Portugal international was through on goals. However, he was caught up by La Real’s defenders. Ronaldo did have the ball in the back of the net in the 35th minute; however, it was ruled offside.
Speaking after the result on ESPN FC on YouTube (h/t Metro), Nicol, who played for the Merseysiders for 13 seasons, points out Ronaldo missing his opportunities in the game. The former Liverpool player does not feel the game had much to offer other than a few moments.
“I’ll be honest, when you mention the game, the only thing I have in my head is Ronaldo clean through [on goal] and getting caught by two players.
“That’s kind of what springs to my mind. And he did have another look. He had a couple of other chances, not as good as that one, but there was just something missing…
“But that’s the only thing I can think of. The fact that Ronaldo was clean through and looked every one of those 36, 37 years.”
United handed a loss
La Real scored the only goal of the game, although it was contentious. Lisandro Martinez blocked David Silva’s shot inside the box. The ball hit the Argentine on the hand after coming off his leg.
The referee awarded a penalty. Unfortunately, VAR did not intervene either. And the ball was eventually slotted into the goal from the spot by Brais Mendez in the 59th minute.
Los Txuri-Urdin gave United a loss after a four-game win streak in the Premier League. The La Liga outfit recorded their first victory against English opposition in European football.
United’s 2022/23 campaign got off to a bad start. We lost the opening two fixtures of the league against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.
Subsequently, Erik ten Hag dropped the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire from the starting XI. And the team remained the same for the Liverpool, Southampton and Leicester City games. Antony was the only change against Arsenal. And we won all four of those matches.
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The Dutch manager rotated the starting lineup against La Real. However, it evidently backfired. It remains to be seen how United lineup in their next fixture and if Ronaldo will be trusted to lead the line from the get-go.
As of now, our game against Crystal Palace has been postponed. The Red Devils are set to take on Sheriff on Thursday, September 15, in the UEFA Europa League.
