A Cristiano Ronaldo injury was the final bitter pill as Manchester United’s season of misery reached a new nadir on Saturday losing 1-0 to relegation-threatened Everton.
The Red Devils headed to Goodison Park knowing only a win would be enough to keep the pressure on the teams around them in the battle for the top four. But Anthony Gordon’s deflected first-half strike was the difference, meaning they have now won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions.
And to make matters even worse Cristiano Ronaldo picked up an ugly-looking shin injury in the closing stages and was seen limping down the tunnel shortly after the full-time whistle. Pictures show that the 37-year-old had a scar on his left shin and was forced to roll down his sock as he trudged off the pitch.
The defeat leaves United in seventh place, three points behind Tottenham and Arsenal having played more games than both of the North London duo. And interim boss Ralf Rangnick was plainly unhappy with the performance, claiming they had no excuses for the defeat.
"If you don't score a single goal in 95 minutes we have to be disappointed,” he told BT Sport. We had a good start and should have created more chances out of that domination. Then we concede a deflected shot and lost a bit of our composure.
"The second half we were trying to add creativity with substitutions but we didn't always take the right decision. "We had to do something. We needed a goal and we decided to bring Mata and more verticality with Elanga.
“They were defending with their players in the last 35 minutes. We didn't find the right player at the right moment. We didn't have enough players in the box when we played crosses."
The result heaps more scrutiny on United officials, who opted to delay naming a permanent manager until the end of the season. Rangnick was appointed back in November and is set to take on a consultancy role, while there is still uncertainty over the long-term picture.
But Rangnick said the players can not use that as a reason for yet another dour display: "I don't think this should be an excuse. We are Manchester United. We have lots of international players. There shouldn't be an alibi. There will be a new manager next season. If this is announced now or in 10 days it shouldn't have an impact."
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And on their fading hopes of finishing in the Champions League places, Rangnick added: “We've spoken about that a few times, we're dependent on other results, but if we don't win our games we'll never have good results from other teams. The only thing we can do is stick together.
“Now we have Fred injured as well as Scott McTominay, so that's two midfield sixes injured, hopefully not for too long. That's all we can do, prepare for the Norwich game.”
