Ronaldo impresses as Reds title charge gathers momentum

MANCHESTER UNITED’S sixth successive league victory may not have come as a surprise at Ewood Park, nor did the fact that Blackburn’s manager Mark Hughes sees similarities between the side being assembled by Alex Ferguson and the team he helped to their first Premiership title 14 years ago.

But one feature that did go against the grain was the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo, English football’s public enemy number one after his exploits for Portugal at the World Cup, but one whose sublime talents are slowly being appreciated by an audience beyond Old Trafford.

United’s Portuguese winger was not alone in falling over on more than one occasion but, tellingly at a time when the issue is so prevalent, he could never once be accused of diving or feigning injury, a fact appreciated by at least a small percentage of Rovers fans who applauded him off the pitch as he was substituted with an ankle injury.