(Football news) Manchester United were humiliated by arch rivals Manchester City last week as the reigning champions won 6-3. Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench as Erik ten Hag said that he didn't bring Ronaldo on out of respect as United were already losing badly. The Portuguese forward did start in Thursday's Europa League clash against Omonia Nicosia. That night in particular was frustrating for Ronaldo as in 90 minutes, he took 11 shots but only 1 of them was on target. He did give an assist but missed a lot of chances to score. Anthony Martial's return to full fitness meant that Ronaldo was on the bench away at Everton on Sunday.

However Martial suffered an injury in the 29th minute and was replaced by Ronaldo. 15 minutes later Ronaldo combined with Casemiro to give Manchester United the lead. The goal was his 700th in all competitions and it was long overdue. Out of the 700, 450 were for Real Madrid, 101 for Juventus, 5 for Sporting Lisbon and now 144 for Manchester United. In the 2nd half he couldn't score but had a good game where he worked really hard in defence and offence. 700 club goals is an incredible achievement which highlights the longevity of Ronaldo's career. Even though recency bias might lure people into thinking otherwise, Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest goalscorers of all time if not the greatest.

The landmark and Ronaldo's performance against Everton is a good sign. It could give Cristiano Ronaldo a massive boost to get back into the side. In such a long career, Ronaldo has never experienced being out of favour and not starting every game. It looks like now he is very close to overcoming this obstacle as well. Manchester United's next match is against Omonia Nicosia again but this time at home. The fixture is a good chance for Ronaldo to score a couple of goals and get back to being his usual self against Newcastle which is an important game as the Tyneside team is in incredible form.

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