Ronaldo suffers one of the most embarrassing nights of his career in front of raucous Dublin crowd

Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo had one of the most embarrassing moments of his career on Thursday night. Irish delight The Republic of Ireland roared back into life with a 2-0 win over a lifeless Portugal, who were without the suspended Bruno Fernandes. A brace from Troy Parrott before half-time gave the Boys in Green a famous victory at the Aviva Stadium, and keeps their hopes of World Cup qualification alive, heading into the last match of the group. Ronaldo nightmare Ronaldo has once again been instrumental in his side’s success as they sit top of the qualification group. He has scored five goals in the qualification process but could not add to his total last night. After a frustrating night in front of goal, Ronaldo clashed with Ipswich Town defender Dara O’Shea in the penalty box. The BBC report that, “jostling for position as he awaited a cross, the 40-year-old shunted his elbow into O’Shea’s back, sending the Ipswich defender tumbling to the turf and sparking a strong reaction from the Irish players and fans at Aviva Stadium.” Referee Glenn Nyberg had originally given a yellow card but after looking at the incident again using the VAR monitors, he decided to change his decision to a red. This sparked wild celebrations from the Irish fans who taunted the United legend mercilessly by telling him not to cry over the decision. This was in reference to the 40 year old claiming that O’Shea had dived and was crying over the foul. On reaction to the red, Ronaldo sarcastically applauded the Dublin crowd and gave them a thumbs up, suggesting they played their part in the red. What’s more, he further lost his head by getting into a heated argument with the Irish bench, suggesting they talk too much. Speaking on the incident after the match, the Ireland manager, Heimir Hallgrímsson stated, “he complimented me for putting pressure on the referee. It was his action on the pitch that cost him the red card. It had nothing to do with me – unless I got into his head.” It was all in all a terrible night for Ronaldo, who only had one shot on target and completed just 19 passes as his influence was limited by a resolute Irish defence. Cristiano Ronaldo stats vs Ireland MetricValue Goals0 Assists0 Total shots5 Shots on target1 Shots blocked1 Touches28 Dribbles (successful)0 (0) Possession lost3 Key passes1 Crosses (accurate)0 (0) Accurate passes19/22 (86%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)18/21 (86%) Passes in own half (acc.)1/1 (100%) Tackles (won)0 (0) Interceptions0 Clearances0 Blocked shots0 Ground duels (won)1 (0) Aerial duels (won)2 (0) Fouls1 Dribbled past0 Source: Sofascore – The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.