Finally, Ronaldo breaks silence after United’s three defeats in last four games

Manchester United were on Saturday handed their third defeat in their last four games after a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

The Old Trafford club had earlier suffered defeats to Young Boys and West Ham in the Champions League and Carabao Cup respectively.

Meanwhile, United’s result on Saturday had seen the Red Devils suffer their first English Premier League defeat in the new season as they missed the chance to regain the top spot on the table.

Painfully, United’s misery was summed up after Bruno Fernandes was handed a golden opportunity to equalise at the death as Kortney Hause handled inside the box just moments after putting the visitors in front at Old Trafford, but the Portuguese saw his attempt blazed well over the crossbar.

Disappointingly for Ronaldo, it was the first time the Portugal international had failed to find the net since returning to United and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner could not hide his frustration as he took to Instagram shortly after the final whistle.

‘This is only the beginning, but in a competition as strong as the Premier League, every point counts!’ he told his 348 million followers.

‘We must react immediately, get back on our feet and show our true strength.’

At his post-match press conference, United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer threw his support behind Fernandes following the Portuguese’s stoppage-time penalty miss.

Asked how Ronaldo reacted to Fernandes being on penalties, Solskjaer replied: ‘You will be making all these assumptions now on reaction of players.

‘Bruno has been excellent, he’s such a good penalty taker.

‘Today, you’d back him with your mortgage, I’d guess.

‘As I said, Bruno has been excellent, and Cristiano is the one who has scored the most penalties in world football.

‘We’ve got great takers here. It’s just a missed opportunity for us to get a point.’

However, the Red Devils will be desperate to return to winning ways when they return to face Villarreal next Wednesday at the Theatre of Dreams after their back-to-back home defeats.