Erik ten Hag has praised Cristiano Ronaldo after he made a goal-scoring return for Manchester United against FC Sheriff in the Europa League.
Ronaldo was axed from the United side that drew with Chelsea last weekend after he refused to come on as a substitute during the win over Tottenham a week ago.
The 37-year-old was welcomed back to training on Tuesday after he held positive talks with Ten Hag about his rash decision and accepted his wrongdoing.
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Ten Hag wanted to know if Ronaldo was committed to his project before welcoming him back, but received enough assurances to bring him back into the group earlier this week.
Ronaldo was rewarded with a return to the United line-up on Thursday night and followed it up with a goal as he added their third in a comfortable 3-0 win over Sheriff.
It marked a quick change in fortunes for Ronaldo just eight days after he left early during the Tottenham win, and Ten Hag was impressed with the way he responded to being dropped.
When asked if he was impressed with the forward's perseverance to get a goal having missed a number of chances, the United manager replied: "Yes, what you said, he kept going, the team kept going to put him in the right position.
"He kept going to put himself in the right position. He didn't give up. That's his whole career. That's why he's so good and he got the reward for it."
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