Manchester United manager Ten Hag responds to Alejandro Garnacho comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney

Erik ten Hag laughed off comparisons with Alejandro Garnacho and Manchester United greats Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Garnacho struck his first Premier League goal of the season with a remarkable bicycle kick volley to put United ahead against Everton at Goodison Park in the third minute.

The 19-year-old's strike drew inevitable comparisons with Rooney's decider in the February 2011 Manchester derby at Old Trafford and Ronaldo's acrobatic strike for Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final win against Juventus in 2018.

Ronaldo mentored Garnacho during their brief time together as teammates at United and the Argentine replicated Ronaldo's celebration at Goodison.

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Likening the teenager, who does not turn 20 until July, to Ronaldo and Rooney drew a withering but lengthy response from Ten Hag.

"Don't compare, I don't think it's right," Ten Hag stressed. "They all have their own identity. For Garnacho to go that way, he has a lot to come, he has to work very hard and do it on a consistent base. So far, he has not but he definitely has high potential to do some amazing things.

"It is not the first time we see this, we see often glimpses, but if you want to be a player like Rooney, Ronaldo, you have to score 20, 25 goals in the Premier League.

"It's not easy to get, you have to work very hard and go in ways where it hurts. A lot to come but potential he has.

"It was a fantastic goal. In the season, there are still many games to play but maybe already the goal of the season. Not only the finish, it was the back to the end. But the finish was incredible."

United's victory at Goodison Park was