This is Cristiano Ronaldo’s longest barren spell in front of goal in 13 years. That it currently stands at just six games demonstrates what a truly extraordinary player he has been over that period – a goalscorer almost beyond comparison in the modern game – but there were times at Old Trafford on Saturday that when you wondered if this is more than a dry patch.
“Of course he would have wished to score, I would have wished him to score,” Ralf Rangnick, the United manager, said after yet another Ronaldo blank and yet another occasion when Manchester United had thrown away a lead. “Today he had his chances, one of the biggest was when he went past the goalkeeper but it was cleared off the line.”
