Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘disgraceful dive’ condemned as Man Utd win with controversial penalty

December 12, 2021

Rival supporters of Manchester United have slammed Cristiano Ronaldo after he went down in the box to hand Ralf Rangnick’s side all three points against Norwich.

Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot after Darren England ruled that the Portugal skipper had been hauled down by Max Aarons during the closing stages.

The 36-year-old smashed home a 13th goal of the season in all competitions by sending Tim Krul the wrong way, with the hosts unable to find an equaliser in the remaining 15 minutes.

Following United’s victory which took them up to fifth in the Premier League table, fans of rival clubs have turned on the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

One rival fan said: “Cristiano Ronaldo. Shame on you. That dive was disgraceful.”

With a second adding: “Ronaldo with an awful dive…. Penalty given.”

A third continued: “Embarrassing dive. Embarrassing decision. Norwich robbed,”

With a fourth writing: “Ronaldo is one of the 3 best players to ever live. No need for him to dive like he does.”

However, many others on Twitter hit back, claiming that Ronaldo was pulled down by Aarons which cost him a chance of scoring against the hosts.

One said: “But he did foul Ronaldo.”

With a second adding: “Ronaldo made the most of it but it was a foul.”

And a third writing: “He clearly pulled Ronaldo. It was a stupid foul anyways.”

Norwich boss Dean Smith spoke about the decision after the game, and his view won’t come as a shock.

He told BBC Sport: “I’ve seen the penalty back, does he make contact yes. But I can show you five or six challenges in the game that weren’t given. We want consistency. There wasn’t any consistency today.

“Manchester United found it too easy to ref the game. Marcus Rashford gave himself a free-kick in the first half.

“I know I sound like a sore loser but I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game.”