Axe for Ronaldo, O'Shea v Everton

Cristiano Ronaldo and John O’Shea paid the price for Manchester United’s dismal Champions League failure when they were axed from the starting line-up to face Everton.

Ronaldo, who was simply awful on his return to Portugal last week, was dropped to the bench, while O’Shea did not even make it that far as his left-back berth went to Kieran Richardson.

Under-fire Mikael Silvestre did keep his place though in a United side lacking Ruud van Nistelrooy through suspension, while former Old Trafford favourite Phil Neville was included for the visitors.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Richardson, Park, Smith, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Saha. Subs: Howard, Brown, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Rossi.

Everton: Wright, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Nuno Valente, Osman, Davies, Neville, Kilbane, Beattie, McFadden. Subs: Kroldrup, Bent, Ferguson, Li Tie, Turner.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire)