Father Time is beginning to catch up with Cristiano Ronaldo and was evident in Manchester United 's 1-0 Europa League defeat against Real Sociedad on Thursday night.
That's an opinion held by former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol, who believes that Ronaldo 'looked every one of his years' as United began their latest European adventure with defeat. Brais Mendez's second-half strike proved the difference between the two sides as the Red Devils' four-match winning run came to an abrupt end at Old Trafford.
Neither side could break the deadlock in an even first half, although Ronaldo did see a thumping header ruled out for offside. This was before Mendez fired Sociedad into a 58th minute lead from the spot after Lisandro Martinez was judged to have handled a strike in the penalty area. United made changes in a bid to try and find an equaliser, but they were unable to muster up a response to salvage their recent up-turn in form.
Nicol has since singled out Ronaldo's performance as the 37-year-old played in the second tier of European football for the very first time, after 19 consecutive years of playing in the Champions League, and it did not exactly go according to plan.
For the first time since his return to the club 12 months ago, Ronaldo looked his age. He he was quickly crowded out by Sociedad defenders after being sent through on goal in the first half and looked off the pace all night. He did see a trademark header ruled out by the linesman after he was, once again, caught ahead of the play.
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"I’ll be honest, when you mention the game, the only thing I have in my head is Ronaldo clean through [on goal] and getting caught by two players," Nicol told ESPN FC. "That’s kind of what springs to my mind. And he did have another look. He had a couple of other chances, not as good as that one, but there was just something missing.
"That’s what I think about when I think of this game. There wasn’t much in it between the two sides, not that many chances in the game. But that’s the only thing I can think of. The fact that Ronaldo was clean through and looked every one of those 36, 37 years."
It was not a night to remember for United's No.7 - who is now likely to revert back to the bench after failing to make the most of his chance to impress. Marcus Rashford has led the line superbly since their 2-1 win over Liverpool, with Jadon Sancho and either Antony or Anthony Elanga likely to complete the front three.
