Two of England's biggest clubs squared off this evening as a brilliant header from Casemiro in stoppage time rescued a draw for Man United after Jorginho had looked set to secure all three points for Chelsea through one of his trademark penalty kicks in the 87th minute.
Yet for all of that late drama, it was some even later drama in the Sky Sports studio that everyone is talking about.
The topic was of course a man not involved in this evening's game as Cristiano Ronaldo's presence always hangs over Man United no matter how much or how little he plays.
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In the wake of him refusing to come on against Spurs and storming off before the final whistle, his character has been called into question more than ever as many feel the 37-year-old is now more of a burden than an asset since his on-field prowess is clearly on the wane.
And yet for all of the logic that removing a diminishing superstar famed for having a gigantic ego would improve the rebuild job Erik ten Hag has at his hands, most Man United legends now working as pundits continue to defend the Portugese despite this latest petulant act - which he also committed during a pre-season friendly.
Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and most notably Roy Keane maintain that Ronaldo is one of United's top players and should be treated accordingly by being in the starting team most weeks.
Only Gary Neville and Peter Schmeichel have broken rank so far among the Red Devil media stable by emphatically slamming Ronaldo's antics and suggesting it is now time for him to be moved on.
Neville and Keane being in the Sky studio alongside Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thus made for predictably fiery viewing before and after the match.
Here's the thrust of what the Corkman argued: "The manager’s made a decision to leave him out, Ronaldo didn’t want to go on even if it was the 87th, 88th minute, he’s walked down the tunnel and been punished for it. I try to see if from the players point of view, he’s had enough, he’s lost his head, I think it’s been brewing.
"I still think he’s a human being, he’s got flaws, he’s probably frustrated at not getting opportunities and had enough. He’s walked down the tunnel, I think worse has happened at Manchester United.
"Everybody’s talking United beating Spurs, best performance in years, rubbish, Tottenham were terrible. Man United managed to beat Tottenham last year, I think Ronaldo got a hat-trick, he’s more than capable of coming on and making a difference."
An explosive back and forth between he and Neville later unfolded as below...
Keane: "Gary, there’s players at Man United who have done a lot worse than what he’s done?"
Neville responded: "In this current moment?" Keane said: "Where do you want me to get started? Scholesy, great lad… let me finish. Scholesy refused to play at Man United."
Neville quickly hit back: "I know he did," before Keane added: "We said nothing to him." Neville : "He was fined two weeks wages."
Keane then went on: "Ronaldo will be fined for this, he’ll find his way back. Rio Ferdinand missed a drugs test, he got banned for eight months. Cantona…"
Neville interrupted: "He was banned for six months," but Keane retorted: "Yeah, who’s fault is that? The clubs fault or the teammates?"
Neville then said: "Do you not think Cristiano Ronaldo should be punished this week?" before a frustrated Keane fired back: "Dead right. You’re saying he can’t deal with being sub. He was top goalscorer."
But Neville refused that notion, adding: "He can’t," before Hasselbaink chimed in. He said: "He’s right, he can’t be dealing with being a sub."
Keane responded: "They played Man City a few weeks ago and it could’ve been 16. The manager says I’m not bringing him on because he didn’t want to disrespect. He goes to Everton a week later, comes on, scores a goal. Starts against Newcastle …"
Neville interrupted again: "Roy, there’s not many Manchester United fans who would have Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting 11."
Keane fired back: "I couldn’t care less what fans think, I couldn’t care less, a lot of the fans haven’t got a clue what’s going on."
Neville doubled down on his stance though, insisting: "They [Manchester United] score more goals without him and they get more points without him. That’s a fact. He’s coming to the end of his career, Manchester United are a better team without him, he’s just got to get used to it or leave."
While there's obviously going to be lots of people who come down on either side of the argument as well as somewhat in the middle, the bulk of the reaction on social media indicated that Keane was - like Ferdinand and Evra - being blindly loyal to a former teammate and legend of the game.
Ste tweeted: "Not sure why he keeps bringing up that Ronaldo was “leading goal scorer” for us. Doesn’t mean much when he isn’t scoring goals this season when he’s had the chances."
While Tómas said: "One rule for CR7, one rule for the rest. Gross hypocrisy from #Keano."
Lastly, someone else added: "Following suit of ex-Utd players who played with him being completely blinded by what's in front of them. Makes their opinions completely worthless if not able to be objective. Him and Rio are just laughable."
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