It just hasn’t been Cristiano Ronaldo’s or Manchester United’s year. The Red Devils added yet another underwhelming defeat to their season with a shock loss to Everton over the weekend 1-0. The defeat moves Manchester United to seventh place in the Premier League, three points back of the all too important UEFA Champions League positions.
During the game Cristiano Ronaldo got the brunt of a lot of kicks as his legs were visibly bleeding after the match and a clearly frustrated Ronaldo was in no mood to put on a good face. It was then that while the former Real Madrid star was making his way to the tunnel that he smacked a phone out of the hands of an Everton fan.
Amid all the jeers, Ronaldo continued to exit but the incident was described as “assault” by Merseyside Police. Worse yet, hours later the mother of the Everton supporter posted pictures of the boy’s bruised hand and later mentioned that her son, Jake Harding, 14, is autistic. The reaction on social media prompted Cristiano Ronaldo to issue a statement on the matter.
Cristiano Ronaldo offers Everton fan tickets to Manchester United game
The mother of Jake Harding stated that her son was “in shock, he’s autistic, and (the incident) ruined his day.” Sarah Kelly went on to explain that her son was only filming the injuries Ronaldo had suffered with no intent to make fun of the player, as Harding had filmed all the players leaving the ground.
Ronaldo owed up to his mistake and issued a statement on Instagram: “It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing. Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game. I would like to apologize for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship.”
On the Everton side of things, the club had confirmed to CNN they were contacting Harding’s mother in an attempt to invite both mother and son to the next home game against Leicester City on April 20.
The club stated: “… incidents like that are not the norm at football matches and hopefully give him a positive memory of visits to Goodison Park,”.
On the sporting side the win gave Everton some life in the ladder part of the Premier League season as they fight off relegation. Manchester United is seeing their chances of European soccer dwindle if they don’t get back to a winning track amid of season of total chaos at the club.
