Boy Wonder returns

It couldn’t have ended any other way, could it? Boy Wonder Cristiano Ronaldo returned home to demonstrate what he’s learned since leaving and it’s safe to say, a lot. He drove in the winner as Manchester United won away at Sporting Lisbon in last night’s Champions League action.

Ronaldo headed in a cross from Wes Brown in the 62nd minute and was sure not to celebrate his goal and instead to bowed to the crowd in a gesture of respect. Ronaldo was a member of the Sporting Lisbon youth academy and has praised the quality of his footballing education.

It ended 1-0 and was a hard fought win for United. Sporting were no pushover and fully deserved a draw. United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had to make a handful of excellent saves in both halves to ensure the win. While at times both team struggled and the matchup became a game of ping-pong, at others it was great football and on the whole a good game to watch.

In fact, on the whole Sporting created more chances, but were wasteful and van der Sar was excellent in goal. The second half saw United win the initiative and Ronaldo was given a standing ovation from the Lisbon crowd when he was substituted for Carlos Tevez.

For a look back at the game the brought Ronaldo to Sporting, have a look here as I compiled all his touches from that game into a YouTube video.