Cristiano Ronaldo: Erik ten Hag happy with Man Utd striker’s persistence after he returns with a goal

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag praised Cristiano Ronaldo for his persistence after the Portuguese returned from his first-team exile to score in a Europa League win over Sheriff.

Ronaldo was disciplined by his manager last week after refusing to come on as a substitute in a Premier League win over Tottenham and leaving the bench to head down the tunnel before full-time.

Ten Hag subsequently dropped the striker from his squad for Saturday’s draw with Chelsea and he was frozen out of first-team training, but the 37-year-old returned to the fold this week.

“He kept going and the team kept going to put him in the right position,” said Ten Hag.

“He kept going to get himself in the right position. He didn’t give up and I think that’s what he’s done his whole career and in the end he got his reward for it.”

It was Ronaldo’s third goal of the season, two of which have come in the Europa League.

The 37-year-old has struggled to nail down a starting spot in Ten Hag’s team in the Premier League this season, but he has featured from the start in every game of their European campaign.

“Great team effort and a good victory. We stand together. Let’s go, United,” Ronaldo wrote on social media.

United have sealed qualification to the knockout stages of the Europa League, but they must beat Real Sociedad in their final group game next week to top the group and therefore avoid the play-off round and advance directly to the last 16.

Ten Hag’s side have hit a good run of form lately, and the win over Sheriff stretched their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.

United, who are sixth in the Premier League standings, host West Ham next on Sunday.