Ronaldo Plays

This is how a man gains redemption. He may not have done anything wrong in our (Ronaldo Fans!) eyes, but the Press and the rest of England have already written him off as a diver and cheat, and intend to let him know how they feel.

Amid a massive security operation, which even involved some Press sending out reports that Cristiano wasn't going to play, Cristiano Ronaldo played his first minutes since the World Cup.

His name was hissed at as it came over the loudspeaker, his every touch was booed, and every mistake cheered as though Oxford had won a cup final. It could have been the breaking of poor Ronny, had it not been for his strength of character and ability, and the fact that he knew he had the 1000 Manchester United fans on his side. Had they not been cheering for Ronaldo it might have been a different story.

What do you do to try to stop people booing you? How do you shut them up? I think scoring two and setting on up is about as good as it gets. And there was no showboating, no tricks, just an extremely solid performance.

Ronaldo first chipped Solskjaer in, then fired home a beauty from 20 yards into the top corner. He also scored United's final goal with a rifled home shot from 15 yards. Given the fact that Oxford celebrated every miss of his, it would not have been a surprise if he had given up shooting all together, and yet here he was, the 'winker', paying little or no attention to the rival fans or the press furore. Excellent.

Substitution-time came, and Ronaldo was cheered by United's section of fans, and made his way off slowly, proving he simply didn't care what Oxford or anyone else thinks about him.

The boy is a genius.