Manchester United midfielder Fred has paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo when wishing the great Portuguese a happy 37th birthday.
United’s number seven wouldn’t have envisaged waking up and celebrating his birthday after seeing the Reds being knocked out of the FA Cup.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner surprisingly dragged a first half penalty wide of the post after Paul Pogba had been bundled over inside the penalty area.
Ronaldo did convert his spot kick in the penalty shootout, but after Anthony Elanga blazed his effort over the bar, Chris Wilder’s Middlesbrough pulled off a big upset at Old Trafford.
United’s Brazilian midfielder has wished Ronaldo a happy birthday via his Instagram account.
The message translates: “Happy birthday Cristiano. A pleasure to play alongside you, brother. I want a lot of light in your life. May God bless you always.”
Ronaldo is yet to score in 2022 and has gone four games without a goal. He has 14 goals and three assists from 25 appearances so far this season.
It wasn’t for the lack of trying against Boro, the man who has scored over 800 career goals had 10 shots on goal against the Teeside club.
But only three of Ronaldo’s 10 attempted efforts hit the target and it was just one of those nights in front of goal for the former Juventus man and his teammates.
Ralf Rangnick will want an immediate response when the Reds travel to Burnley on Tuesday.
Sean Dyche’s Clarets are the last side that Ronaldo scored against and hopefully the Portuguese international can get off the mark for the calendar year at Turf Moor.
Neither Cristiano Ronaldo or Manchester United would have envisaged his return playing out like this.
But Fred’s glowing admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo shows how much of a privilege it is to have one of the greatest of all time back in the United dressing room.
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