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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Liam Wood

Manchester United fans respond to classy Cristiano Ronaldo gesture vs Arsenal

Manchester United supporters have praised Arsenal for their 'classy' gesture towards Cristiano Ronaldo during the Premier League showdown at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon. The crowd joined together to applaud Ronaldo after the tragic death of his newborn son.

Putting rivalries to one side, a similar gesture was prompted by Liverpool fans on Tuesday night and the emotional scenes have been replicated in north London. United had previously led condolences for the Portuguese captain as other key figures and players reached out to him and his family after their devastating news.

Standing and clapping in the seventh minute, the applause comes after Ronaldo and girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez announced the tragic death of their newborn son. Georgina gave birth to twins on Monday evening and their baby daughter arrived safely.

READ MORE: Ralf Rangnick gives update on Manchester United consultancy role

After being granted compassionate leave, Ronaldo has returned to training and came straight back into the United starting XI against Arsenal as Ralf Rangnick made five changes. Among them was an omission for Harry Maguire and Ronaldo was joined in attacking quarters by Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga.

On-field Arsenal took command with goals from Nuno Taveres and Bukayo Saka (pen). However, as it did at Anfield, football took a back seat as supporters from both teams offered a mark of respect to Ronaldo and his family, before the five-time Ballon d'Or winner predictably staged a fight-back courtesy of his 22nd goal of the campaign - his 100th Premier League goal.

Here are a selection of comments from United supporters taken from social media platform Twitter;

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