Thirty miles along the M62, in a match that mainly panned out as the calm before Sunday's storm, Cristiano Ronaldo ludicrously claimed he had scored a legitimate goal after taking the ball away from Nick Pope as the Newcastle United goalkeeper waited to take a free-kick.
The notion that Ronaldo’s effort was legal was clearly preposterous, as Craig Pawson made clear. Yet still, the referee was besieged by 10 bawling Manchester United players and Erik ten Hag had a pop at the fourth official.
What happened to that scheme when only the captain was supposed to be allowed to approach the referee? What happened to the Respect campaign? What happened to the slogans, to the example-setting? Since when has the harassment, intimidation and abuse of officials become acceptable again?
