Cristiano Ronaldo responds perfectly to Manchester United teammate and Everton fans

Back at the scene where Merseyside police had investigated a phone-smashing incident, there was additional evidence Cristiano Ronaldo had been at Goodison Park.

Downgraded to a substitute again, Ronaldo pounded the touchline turf as early as the 15th minute, heckled by a few Scousers on his return to Everton, where he was last filmed smashing a fan's phone. One day before his deadline to respond to the Football Association's needless charge, Ronaldo smashed a record.

The 37-year-old's 44th-minute strike was his 700th club goal and second at a ground he last registered at aged 20 in February 2005. It is that longevity that sets Ronaldo apart from the game's mortals.

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"You've only come to see Ronaldo," chirped the United fans. At full-time, a Portugal flag was unfurled and Ronaldo applauded appreciatively. Some Evertonians will have captured his fingerprints all over this game on their smartphones.

Marcus Rashford had already twice visibly despaired at Ronaldo's selfishness yet it is that single-mindedness that has made him the game's greatest goalscorer. Sprung by Casemiro's piercing pass, Ronaldo hit the ball as purely as in Nicosia on Thursday night, only Jordan Pickford was porous.

Ronaldo hit everything but the net in Cyprus and was overdue a first club goal from open play in nearly six months. He greeted it understatedly, perhaps conscious of his recent history on Merseyside and the FA's piousness. Rashford, beaming, was the first to embrace him.

Ronaldo had watched Rashford and then Anthony Martial start ahead of him over the last week, perhaps pretenders to the throne in Ronaldo's eyes, and endured the ignominy of an unused status in the derby. Martial's brittleness