Cristiano Ronaldo Is a Dirty Cheat (Manchester United v. Blackburn)

He may have scored a terrific winner with a trademark free-kick, but Cristiano Ronaldo continued to polarise those who love him versus those who hate him after being involved in two controversial instances during United’s 2-1 win over Blackburn on Saturday.

As is often the case, both situations arose minutes after each other.

Early in the second half Ronaldo played up to his petulant schoolboy image, as the Portuguese winger kicked-out at David Dunn after the Rovers’ number eight had won the ball cleanly from CR7. Amazingly, Ronaldo’s cheeky kick on Dunn was executed right under the nose of referee Howard Webb. Yet, to the discredit of the official, the man in black refused to make an example of Ronaldo, opting only to dish out a verbal warning when undoubtedly sterner action was required.

Sir Alex Ferguson should also think carefully about his response to the incident in which the Scot blindly absolved his star from any wrongdoing saying, “I know people will make a meal of it. But it was no more than a flick, and the referee gave him a warning. You see it time and time again.”

Minutes later Ronaldo did find himself in the referee’s notebook, although many will argue that this should have been the winger’s cue for an early bath.

Trying to con ref Webb into awarding a penalty, Ronaldo took a shocking dive after being played through by Dimitar Berbatov as he simulated a foul from Gael Givet on the edge of the box, when it was clear to the naked eye that no contact had been made. Despite being caught red-handed in his moment of deception, Ronaldo dusted himself down with a smile on his face and offering a mouthful of back-chat to ref Webb.

As the commentator on the video observed at the time, “that’s pathetic. It really is.”

Video evidence showing Ronaldo showing himself to be a dirty cheat can be seen here.