Cristiano Ronaldo broke from tradition when netting a landmark goal for Manchester United against Everton, with a new celebration getting an outing.
- Portuguese on target at Goodison Park
- Effort was his 700th in club competition
- No sign of his famous celebration routine
WHAT HAPPENED? The Portuguese superstar netted what proved to be a match-winning effort against the Toffees at Goodison Park, with that strike taking him to 700 in club competition across a remarkable career. Ronaldo would normally toast such an achievement by breaking out his famous ‘Siuuu’ routine, but there was no sign of that on Merseyside as he instead closed his eyes, rolled his head back and stood with fingers crossed in front of his chest.
WHAT THEY SAID: United have now offered an explanation as to why Ronaldo, in partnership with fellow forward Antony, favoured a different approach against Everton, saying on the club’s official website: “We can now reveal that Ronaldo’s celebration was a self-deprecating in-joke with his fellow team-mates, highlighting the strong bonds among the players in Erik ten Hag’s squad.
“Of course, Cristiano is renowned for looking after himself and ensuring he is always in the best possible condition, which naturally involves hours of hard work on the training pitch and in the gym. It also includes resting at the right moments and ensuring he has enough sleep to aid his recovery: it has previously been reported that Ronaldo naps several times a day! CR7’s celebration at Everton was amusingly a nod to the position in which he sleeps when travelling with the squad, which hasn’t gone unnoticed by his team-mates who are all eager to learn from him.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Ronaldo had been named among the substitutes once again for a Premier League meeting with Everton, in what has been a frustrating 2022-23 campaign for the all-time great, but stepped off the bench inside the opening half-an-hour as Anthony Martial suffered an untimely injury.
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DID YOU KNOW? Ronaldo scored the 700th club goal of his career, 20 years and 2 days after his first goal. The Portuguese forward has scored 144 goals for Man Utd, 450 for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus and five for Sporting CP.
WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO? With his goal account opened in the English top-flight this season, and with transfer talk shelved until at least January, Ronaldo will be hoping to see more regular game time over the coming weeks as he readies himself for another World Cup quest with Portugal in November.