Manchester United were made to sweat more than they would have liked in their 3-2 Europa League win over Omonia Nicosia.
After going into the break 1-0 down, substitutes Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford turned the game on its head. The latter brought the game level eight minutes after his half-time entrance before teeing up Martial to hit home his first of the season 10 minutes later.
Another goal from Rashford six minutes from time ultimately earned United the win, although the visitors conceded another less than 60 seconds later to set up a nervy ending. But United held on to go second in the group on six points.
With five goals to take in and a whole host of missed chances, United fans may have missed a few things that went on during the contest...
Summer signing Antony and right-back Diogo Dalot were seen communicating with each other throughout the match using arm gestures from the first whistle. The pair have been able to strike up a good relationship quickly due to their shared language of Portuguese.
In the first-half Dalot was pushing forward as often as he could, underlapping Antony. At one stage, though, the Brazilian instructed Dalot to stay in position when the ball was in transition, allowing for more coverage to avoid a potential break.
As seen against Manchester City, when United were attacking, the full-backs bombed on - sometimes operating in a central position - while a midfielder filled in to create a back three when in possession.
While United dominated the play and still carried out this tactic for most of the match, the away side’s best spells came when both full-backs didn’t push as high.
Unlike when he was dispossessed for the opener, Tyrell Malacia avoided an embarrassing moment on the half-hour when chasing a loose ball.
Keeping the ball in play, his momentum took him into the advertising boards and but for his balance and grip would have gone over and fallen nastily. He was hooked at the break after a sub-par display.
There was momentary confusion when the fourth official displayed the wrong number on his board for Martial’s substitution. The number 18 was shown - Bruno Fernandes’ old number - instead of the number eight.
Casemiro had come over to the sidelines before Erik ten Hag gestured for him to stay on. Martial fired home just moments after his entrance to put United 2-1 up.
Thursday night was not to be the night Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 700th career goal. The superstar came close on numerous occasions, hitting the post during one passage in the second half when he should have found the net.
After being left out of Sunday’s derby he seemed determined to find the net, but his efforts were all in vain. Despite the win he was seen disgruntled at full-time, throwing his tape to the ground in annoyance.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁɔˈnaɫdu]; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Portugal national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards[note 3] and four European Golden Shoes, the most by a European player. He has won 32 trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, and the UEFA European Championship. Ronaldo holds the records for most appearances (183), goals (140), and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals in the European Championship (14), international goals (117), and international appearances by a European (191). He is one of the few players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances, and has scored over 800 official senior career goals for club and country.
Ronaldo began his senior career with Sporting CP, before signing with Manchester United in 2003, aged 18, winning the FA Cup in his first season. He would also go on to win three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup; at age 23, he won his first Ballon d'Or. Ronaldo was the subject of the then-most expensive association football transfer when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009 in a transfer worth €94 million (£80 million), where he won 15 trophies, including two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey, and four Champions Leagues, and became the club's all-time top goalscorer. He won back-to-back Ballons d'Or in 2013 and 2014, and again in 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up three times behind Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival. In 2018, he signed for Juventus in a transfer worth an initial €100 million (£88 million), the most expensive transfer for an Italian club and for a player over 30 years old. He won two Serie A titles, two Supercoppe Italiana, and a Coppa Italia, before returning to Manchester United in 2021.
Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal in 2003 at the age of 18 and has since earned over 190 caps, making him Portugal's most-capped player. With more than 100 goals at international level, he is also the nation's all-time top goalscorer. Ronaldo has played in and scored at 11 major tournaments; he scored his first international goal at Euro 2004, where he helped Portugal reach the final. He assumed captaincy of the national team in July 2008. In 2015, Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation. The following year, he led Portugal to their first major tournament title at Euro 2016, and received the Silver Boot as the second-highest goalscorer of the tournament. He also led them to victory in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, and later received the Golden Boot as top scorer of Euro 2020.
One of the world's most marketable and famous athletes, Ronaldo was ranked the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017 and the world's most famous athlete by ESPN from 2016 to 2019. Time included him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. He is the first footballer and the third sportsman to earn US$1 billion in his career.