Cristiano Ronaldo reaction has shown Manchester United what Erik ten Hag is facing

They are images that bookend Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United return, from the euphoric high of his Old Trafford reawakening on September 11 to the embarrassing scenes at Goodison on Saturday, when he appeared to smack a phone out of the hand of a 14-year-old boy.

Ronaldo has apologised for his outburst since but there's no excusing it, no matter how much he was hurting. The 37-year-old was evidently limping towards the away tunnel after another rotten day in United's season, but his life has been spent not only living in the spotlight but often courting it — he should be used to camera phones by now.

The forward faces a police investigation over the incident and the petulance may well become the defining image of United's season, although there is plenty of competition for that unwanted award.

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If a season review DVD ever surfaces from United's latest annus horribilis then it should be on the shelves with the rest of the soap operas rather than among football videos. Everything that could have gone wrong this season, has gone wrong for United, but they've been their worst own enemy.

It didn't look like being that way when Ronaldo stepped back out at Old Trafford in September, scoring twice against Newcastle on his second coming. The possibilities seemed endless back then.

Not now. This has been as desperate a season as United have endured in decades and while there will be arguments that Ronaldo is the least of their problems, that doesn't stop him from being a problem.

Maybe the frustration that bubbled to the surface on Saturday came from the late chance he squandered, firing a shot straight towards Jordan Pickford from 12 yards out. That was