Man Utd draw final friendly as Cristiano Ronaldo hooked at half-time – 5 talking points

Cristiano Ronaldo was taken off at half time in first appearance since asking to be sold as Erik ten Hag’s first game at Old Trafford ends in 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano

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Image: Offside via Getty Images)

Cristiano Ronaldo lasted 45 minutes in his first Manchester United appearance since asking to leave the club as Rayo Vallecano came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag, taking charge of his first home game, gave a debut to £55m signing Lisandro Martinez and handed a first start to free agent recruit Christian Eriksen.

But with most of the focus on Ronaldo, the result did not go United’s way as they wrapped up their preparations ahead of their Premier League campaign, which kicks off against Brighton next weekend.

Amad, who replaced Ronaldo at the interval, made it 1-0 two minutes into the second period with a close range finish to capitalise on shoddy goalkeeping.

But Alvaro Garcia’s tap in pulled the La Liga side level midway through the half and both sides could only trade half chances from that moment on.

1 Ronaldo return falls flat

“On Sunday the king plays,” Ronaldo promised on Friday evening and his 45 minutes of rust-busting here will have done little to assuage the many who believe he should abdicate his self-appointed throne.

After several weeks of PR action and, for reasons unrelated to his desire to depart, inaction on the training ground, the 37-year-old was never going to last the duration of this encounter.

But he was given just 45 minutes before being replaced by academy product Amad, who then required two minutes to open the scoring with the help of a sloppy goalkeeping error from Diego Lopez, and Ronaldo showed little at the focal point of Ten Hag’s experimental attack.

There was one spurned opportunity, blazing over from about 15 yards after being played in by Donny van de Beek, and a moment of alertness to pick up an interception near halfway before finding Eriksen. And aside from that little involvement worth noting.

More interesting was the supporters’ reaction.

When the players initially emerged to warm up, Ronaldo was warmly greeted and in response he pointedly applauded the supporters who had made their way in early.

But when the starting XI was read out about a half an hour before kick-off the reception was mixed – the cheers not loud enough to drown out a smattering of jeers – and by the time they were listed before kick off it was harder to settle on the majority reaction.

United insist he is not for sale but if this ended up being goodbye it could scarcely have been more muted.

2 Eriksen sharpens up

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Image:

AFP via Getty Images)

It took a while for the free agent signing to get going in his first start but he went closest to a first half goal in the 30th minute when curling inches wide from just outside the penalty area.

As the game progressed you could see the Dane sharpening, his touch and vision to the fore while much of the play around him drifted.

Eriksen is evidently not yet at the point where he is capable of playing a full match but an hour here following on from his cameo in Oslo a day previous bodes well and expect him to feature off the bench against Brighton next weekend.

3 Martinez question

In which position will the Argentina international feature more this season? The £55m signing from Ajax was positioned as the left centre back in a flat four here and while not exploited it was impossible to ignore the 24-year-old’s most significant weakness – his lack of height.

The days of Premier League wide men sending high crosses in at every opportunity may be gone but opposition analysts will obviously target a 5ft 8in centre half in the air and some of the division’s bigger centre forwards will doubtlessly fancy their chances against the league’s shortest defender.

For what he lacks in height Martinez makes up for in tenacity and technical ability but will he not be used more frequently as the holding midfielder?

4 A rare opportunity

Away from the game it was notable how many young, very excited children were in attendance.

United had given away 10,000 tickets to local grassroots clubs and schools.

Amid a crippling cost of living crisis and – across the board – ticket prices that prohibit many families from being able to watch their local team regularly this was an initiative deserving plenty of praise.

Yet it also contextualises a future problem facing English football. Premier League audiences are getting older, stadiums a domain for the comfortably middle class. By depriving many young fans of the opportunity to watch their team week-in, week-out, will they be as committed as previous generations?

5 Different dugouts

Since Ten Hag’s arrival in May there have been countless stories about the rules he is enforcing and the values he is instilling. There was another visible change at Old Trafford this afternoon, though: the club have switched the dugouts at his request.

From now United will have the seats closer to the tunnel and Stretford End because when he visited for the first time at the end of last season the new manager noted the previous set up was a little unusual.

United have warmed up in front of the Stretford End for longer than most will care to remember and substitutes have used that sideline to stretch and jog during matches.

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