Cristiano Ronaldo told to ‘go to hell’ by Atalanta manager after Man Utd heroics

Atalanta v Manchester United: Match in Pictures

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Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini told Cristiano Ronaldo to “go to hell” after the Manchester United star rescued a point for his side on Tuesday night. Ronaldo popped up in the 91st minute to score yet another dramatic late equaliser in the Champions League and send United home from Bergamo with a 2-2 draw.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team struggled to get going against Atalanta, who took the lead when David de Gea failed to keep out a tame effort from Josip Ilicic.

Ronaldo made it 1-1 just before half-time with a side-footed finish from Bruno Fernandes’ clever back-heel, but the away side could not carry their momentum into the second half.

Duvan Zapata got in behind the defence to make it 2-1 and United had to weather heavy pressure before Ronaldo popped up with a well-placed volley from the edge of the box to seal the draw.

Defeat would have left United third in Group C, but Ronaldo’s late intervention saw them finish the night top, with seven points from four games.

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It was a damaging blow for Atalanta’s hopes of qualification and Gasperini was seen having a word with Ronaldo on the pitch after the final whistle.

“At the end of the match I spoke with Ronaldo,” he explained.

“He’s an incredible player, some even call him a problem. That’s a nice problem to have. Nine out of 10 times his shots on target, five of them are goals.

“I told him, ‘You know what we say in Italy? Go to hell’.”

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United struggled to contain Atalanta striker Zapata for much of the game and rode their luck at times.

Eric Bailly was forced to make a crucial last-ditch block from the Colombian after Paul Pogba gave the ball away in the first half.

Atalanta pushed hard for a third goal when they were 2-1 up, but were ultimately stung by Ronaldo, who added yet another decisive late goal to his collection which already included strikes in the reverse fixture and in the 2-1 win against Villarreal.

“In the Champions League, great players can change a game that you deserved to win and then don’t,” Gasperini added.

“A third goal would’ve killed it, that was the case in Manchester too, and we certainly had the chances to go 3-1 up in both games.”

While Gasperini was no doubt annoyed to concede to Ronaldo, he was effusive in his praise of the Portuguese forward before the match, saying he was sad to see him leave Juventus for United over the summer.

“He has brought value to our championship,” he said.

“Personally I was sorry that he would return to England, because I always hope that the best players will arrive in Italy, even if perhaps it would have cost us a few more goals against.”

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