Diogo Dalot being given what he needs as Cristiano Ronaldo sends message after Man United injury scare

These are your Manchester United evening headlines for Sunday, September 25.

Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo has played down any fears that he could be a doubt for next weekend's derby against Manchester City after suffering an injury to his face while on international duty with Portugal.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who scored his first goal of the season in United's 2-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League just over a week ago, was left with blood streaming from his nose after clashing with goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik during Portugal's 4-0 win over the Czech Republic in Prague on Saturday evening.

With just 13 minutes on the clock, Ronaldo, who later provided the assist for Diogo Jota to net Portugal's fourth goal, collided with Vaclik, with the Czech Republic goalkeeper slamming into the United ace's face with his arms. It was a purely accidental collision but it left Ronaldo requiring medical attention.

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Manchester United were expected to challenge for the Premier League title last season but, by the end of the season, were reduced to fighting for Europa League qualification. The Reds grossly underperformed and subsequently equalled their worst trophy drought for 40 years.

It was, undoubtedly, a turbulent campaign at Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021 after a 4-1 defeat at Watford. He was booed by some of the travelling fans at full-time, despite midfielder Bruno Fernandes trying to redirect the fans' frustrations towards the players.

Solskjaer - who returned to the club initially as caretaker manager after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho - immediately inspired an upturn in United's form, but things turned sour towards the end, and he left