Rio Ferdinand thinks Man Utd striker Cristiano Ronaldo was annoyed to not have added to his goal tally for the season against Everton.
Just three days on from Ronaldo’s stoppage-time winner against Villarreal, the Red Devils were back in action and looking to build some much-needed momentum.
Anthony Martial’s first Man Utd goal in eight months put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men on course for victory, only for Andros Townsend to secure Rafael Benitez’s Everton a point and frustrate the Old Trafford faithful.
The Portugal international, who started on the bench, stormed off down the tunnel at full-time and Ferdinand can understand his frustrations.
Ferdinand said on BT Sport: “He stormed down the tunnel, disappointed about the result obviously we’ve all been there.
“I think it’ll be a mixture of things, he’s a man in form, scored five in five, wanted to continue that vein of form and shoot his side to victory. I understand the frustrations and it comes out like that.
“[Paul] Pogba down the tunnel after him. A club like Manchester United with the depth they have in their squad should be able to get the job done.
“You have to remember the players that were missing in this Everton team, neither of their strikers played. It’s probably the weakest they’ve been for a while. You’d expect United to go and beat them.
“Nine games without a clean sheet is a poor record for Man United. That’s what undone them today they controlled large parts of this game but give up a lot of chances.”
😳The frustration on the face of Cristiano Ronaldo. Not happy.
Straight down the tunnel at full-time. pic.twitter.com/LtZqxKopQZ
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 2, 2021
In the build-up to Everton’s equaliser, Ferdinand claims Ronaldo could be seen telling his Man Utd team-mates to stop the counter-attack to add to the 36-year-old’s annoyance.
Ferdinand added: Man United at that time, Cristiano says take him early in the play, the foreign teams are cute in those positions and counter-attacks with cheeky fouls would’ve stopped and prevented that.
“You can see him there, telling them ‘take him out, smash him’.”
Fellow pundit Jermaine Jenas, also speaking about Townsend’s goal, said: “I wouldn’t say it was coming but Everton were growing and getting better and better in that second half.
“Pace and power and quality is what they had in abundance in Doucoure and Townsend and Demarai Gray, that is counter-attacking at his best.
“All sorted from that weight and strength from Demarai Gray.”
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