SOCCER:Cristiano Ronaldo has often been jeered at stadiums across the country since the World Cup, but usually these days the booing has died down by the second half. There was no chance of the winger being ignored after the interval here yesterday, though, after the penalty he won controversially and converted in the 45th minute set Manchester United en route to victory.
A match that ended with a comfortable United win had been tight until that point, and the instinct of Spurs supporters that Ronaldo had gone down without being touched appeared to be confirmed when the incident was twice replayed in slow motion on big screens during the half-time break.
Mild boos at the first slow-motion replay grew in intensity when the final showing provided the clearest angle.
Ronaldo re-emerged from the tunnel to jeers and continued to receive similar treatment, though the energy of the home fans drained first when United went 2-0 up early in the second half and then when Ronaldo showed too much pace for Lee Young-pyo to skip down the right and cross for Paul Scholes to put the match beyond doubt in the 54th minute. Barracking did, though, greet Ronaldo when he was substituted.
If United's second-half performance made it hard to imagine the result would have been different without the penalty, the latest hullabaloo surrounding Ronaldo none the less had the feeling of a turning point. Though Alex Ferguson's team had looked the likelier scorers until that point, they were by no means overrunning Tottenham.
Ronaldo showed great skill to wrongfoot Lee near the right-hand edge of the box, burst between the full back and Steed Malbranque and tumbled after Malbranque stuck a foot in his path and then withdrew it.
Slow-motion replays suggested the Spurs midfielder did not touch Ronaldo, although the referee, Mark Clattenburg, could hardly be blamed for the award when it looked in real time as if the Portugal international had been tripped.
"Steed Malbranque stuck his foot out then pulled his foot back," said Tottenham's head coach, Martin Jol. "I can say he took advantage of it, but I don't know. It didn't help just before half-time and just after half-time we conceded again. If you are 2-0 down against a top team like Manchester United it's difficult . . . I wouldn't say Ronaldo was diving, but it was a difficult situation. If you see it on television afterwards you can see it wasn't a penalty."
The Middlesbrough manager, Gareth Southgate, did accuse Ronaldo of cheating to win a penalty in December and was promptly accused of being "very naive" by Ferguson, who described it as a "clear penalty" and said Ronaldo was aware that diving is not condoned at United.
Ferguson's view of this latest incident was unclear last night because he no longer speaks after domestic matches to the written media but he can be expected to defend his player.
United had been unfortunate not to get a penalty about 15 minutes earlier when Anthony Gardner fouled Henrik Larsson and Jol was asked whether that might have influenced Clattenburg's decision when Ronaldo went down. "Could be," he said.
Tottenham ought to have had a penalty with the game goalless when Gary Neville put his arms around Pascal Chimbonda as a free-kick came into the box.
"It didn't help," Jol said, but he deviated from the familiar managerial trait of referee-bashing and spent plenty of time reflecting on his team's errors.
He acknowledged some of his players need to add defensive strength to their ball-playing skills - "You have to win your battles as well in England" - and said: "The third goal was so easy. Three players at the near post and no tackles."
Ronaldo's burst had torn Tottenham to shreds in that instance and the winger, who is 22 today, may have been doubly determined to make his mark when he had missed horribly from six yards at 0-0 and had a generally quiet first half, being controlled by Lee and Malbranque. His penalty took his season's tally to 15, which wins him £400 from Ferguson from a summer bet. "It's fantastic," Ferguson told Sky. "The boy has come on great. He has the courage to play and always wants the ball. I thought actually in the early part of the match he was a bit careless but once he got more of the ball he improved."
Guardian Service
EnglishFAPremiership
P W D L F A Pts
Manchester Utd 26 20 3 3 61 18 63
Chelsea 26 17 6 3 45 19 57
Liverpool 26 15 5 6 39 17 50
Arsenal 25 13 7 5 46 21 46
