Ralf leaves home on high note
Ronaldo & Co seal win for interim boss in last match at Old Trafford
THERE are some things you can’t polish, as the saying goes, and this desperate, dismal Manchester United season is one of them.
Victory over Brentford in the final home game last night couldn’t paper over the cracks that have appeared in the last nine months any more than it could silence the dissenting voices from the stands.
There were more protests outside Old Trafford before kick-off and anti-Glazer chants could be heard moments after Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane scored the goals to secure a comfortable win.
Ronaldo, in particular, was excellent here as he continues to make a mockery of those who question his true value to this club.
United were bright, too. They looked like a team determined to go out on a high at Old Trafford on a night when a number of them were playing here in red for the last time.
Change is coming under new manager Erik ten Hag and not a moment too soon. The best-case scenario now is that United equal the club’s lowest ever Premier League points tally by winning their remaining two games away at Brighton and Crystal Palace, and then qualify for the Europa League.
This is not what this great club stands for.
The big prizes have long since slipped from their grasp, if they were ever a realistic prospect in the first place.
Those early-season highs seem an age ago now. Five goals in the home opener against Leeds, four next time out against Newcastle. Ronaldo’s homecoming and a rapturous reception for his former Real Madrid team-mate Varane.
Visitors to Old Trafford for the final home game of a season that promised so much were greeted by riot police at the gates and protesters gathering under leaden skies around the Holy Trinity statue paying homage to Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.
It was a depressing image befitting a miserable campaign. Only a few of them made good on their promise to walk out in the 73rd minute in protest at the club’s owners, but Old Trafford was only half full when the players embarked on a dubious lap of honour at the end.
It gave some of them a chance to say goodbye, like Juan Mata who was handed his first Premier League start of the season — even though interim manager Ralf Rangnick said there would be ‘no gifts’ in his team selection — and the Spaniard didn’t disappoint.
Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani were also making their Old Trafford farewells, and they will not be alone by any means.
How many of these players will be back when Ten Hag’s team begin a new chapter in August? It is hard to predict but the exodus could run into double figures.
United supporters can only hope that Ronaldo’s wave as he headed down the tunnel means he will be one of them, but there is no guarantee he wants to stick around for another season like this one.
It says everything about how much he has carried this team that the Portugal star has now scored nine of United’s last 12 league goals — eight of them here at Old Trafford.
That makes it 24 in total for the season. He had another chalked off by VAR in the first half last night because he was marginally offside before converting Mata’s cross.
In fact, Ronaldo was involved in just about every significant move except the one that led to United’s opener in the ninth minute.
It was started by right back Diogo Dalot, who swung a pass into the channel for Anthony Elanga to chase.
The young Swede showed great acceleration to reach the ball before it went out and hooked a cross back for Fernandes to thump home an emphatic volley.
Ronaldo had a worthy adversary in Christian Eriksen, though. If this was the ideal stage for the Dane to showcase his skills to other clubs — possibly even United — then he certainly seized the opportunity.
Eriksen was at the heart of all Brentford’s best moments, and they could easily have been level at the interval had Bryan Mbeumo converted from his early pass and Ivan Toney not headed inches over from a sumptuous cross. He twice forced David de Gea into action from distance.
But this was one of those nights when Ronaldo wasn’t going to be upstaged.
United’s No7 had one hopeful penalty appeal turned down by referee Chris Kavanagh in the first half when he went down under Mads Roerslev’s challenge, but there was no doubt about the second one on the hour mark.
The initial pass once again came from Dalot. Ronaldo knocked Rico Henry off the ball and was fouled by the defender’s clumsy recovery challenge.
Fernandes missed United’s last penalty at Arsenal so up stepped Ronaldo and he didn’t fail.
Varane scored his first goal for United when he volleyed in the third from Alex Telles’s corner via Pontus Jansson’s knee in the 72nd minute.
By then the farewells were in full swing. Matic and Mata off, Cavani and Phil Jones on. So too were the protests.
Green and gold smoke drifted over the pitch as a few fans walked out for the final 17 minutes. They didn’t miss much.
As Kavanagh blew the final whistle and the United players gathered rather apprehensively for that lap of appreciation, the club played Glory, Glory Man United.
Who were they trying to kid?