Erik ten Hag 'will deal' with Cristiano Ronaldo after early exit down tunnel

Ronaldo stormed off after it was clear he would not be introduced from the subs bench during United's 2-0 win over Tottenham

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United warms up on the sidelines during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on October 19, 2022 in Manchester, England. Ronaldo was an unused sub as United ran out 2-0 winners. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United looks on prior to kick off. Getty Images

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. Reuters

Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo during the warm up. AFP

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag talks to his players during a break in play. AFP

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo warming up prior to kick-off. PA

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. PA

Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo speaks to teammate Fred during the warm up. AFP

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gives instructions to Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. Reuters

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reacts after the final whistle. AFP

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag says he will speak with Cristiano Ronaldo on Thursday after the Portuguese stormed down the tunnel before the end of the team's 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Ronaldo was named among the substitutes as United dominated their opponents and cruised to victory thanks to second-half goals from as goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes.

After Ten Hag had made it clear he would not be coming on, Ronaldo made a quick exit, which could land him in hot water.

“I don’t pay attention to that, I will deal with that tomorrow,” the Dutchman told Amazon Prime Video.

“I want to keep the focus on the team, it was a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.

“It was a performance also from the subs that came on. It was a squad performance. We deal with that tomorrow.

“What we have seen today was 11 players who defend, 11 players who attack, there was a lot of dynamic.

“I am pleased with that. I will not say I am satisfied because good is not good enough, that has to be the standard at Manchester United.”

United turned in their best performance of the season to overpower a poor Tottenham side and would have won by a far bigger margin had Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris not put in an inspired display.

In the end, Fred’s deflected effort 76 seconds after the restart and Fernandes’ sweet finish was enough for the three points, which follows home wins over Liverpool and Arsenal.

Man United v Spurs ratings

Ten Hag added: “I am pleased with the team, I think it was the best team performance so far this season, so you see a team developing, you already see the last weeks the way we want to play.

“We get every day better on the pitch. Not every game will be like today but Spurs is a magnificent team and it was really enjoyable to watch.”

Spurs remain third in the Premier League table, but boss Antonio Conte is not fooled.

This defeat comes hot on the heels of a dismal display in the north London derby earlier this month and scraping a draw at Chelsea in April.

And the Italian said the club need to analyse why they struggle in the big games.

“For sure not a good game for us but I have to be honest and first of all, especially with my players, this was not the first time for us, despite the table being good but every time we played a high level game we struggle,” he said.

“We struggled against Chelsea because we drew after 92 minutes but Chelsea dominated the game and with Arsenal we lost and today against United we lost.

“For sure when the level is high, we are going to struggle. This means we have to continue to work to try to improve, to work on the pitch and to work outside the pitch.

“We can improve, we need to continue to work and for sure it is right with the club also to analyse very well why when we are going to play this type of game where the level is very high we are struggling.”