MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Cristiano Ronaldo will be left out of Manchester United’s squad to face Chelsea, the club said Thursday after the Portugal international was ruled out of a 2-0 win over Tottenham before the final whistle.
United manager Erik ten Hag said after going to Old Trafford on Wednesday that he would “deal with” Ronaldo a day later.
“Cristiano will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s game against Chelsea,” United said in a statement on Thursday. “The rest of the team is fully focused on the preparations for that match.”
United said it fully supports Ten Haag’s decision.
Ronaldo headed to the dressing room after being left on as an unused substitute in the match.
It left Ten Haag raising questions about the incident on a night when United produced by far their best performance of the season.
“I’m not paying attention today,” the Dutchman said after the match. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow. I want to keep the focus on this team. It was a magnificent performance from all 11 players.”
Ten Hag has already proved a tough disciplinarian – canceling his team’s day off after a 4-0 defeat by Brentford in August, while he was also critical of Ronaldo and other players for leaving a pre-season friendly after Rayo Vallecano at half-time in July.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
