‘I will deal with that’: Erik ten Hag reacts after Cristiano Ronaldo walks down tunnel

Ronaldo left the bench to return to the dressing room before stoppage time in the 2-0 victory over Tottenham

Erik ten Hag admitted he did not speak to Cristiano Ronaldo before the Manchester United superstar walked back to the changing room before the final whistle against Tottenham.

Fred and Bruno Fernandes struck for the Red Devils in a dominant 2-0 victory over Spurs.

Ronaldo was an unused substitute though and the 37-year-old made his way back to the dressing room in the 90th minute.

Ten Hag refused to reveal his views on Ronaldo’s behaviour, vowing to confront the issue on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s match against Chelsea.

“He was there, I’ve seen him, yes, but I didn’t speak to him,” Ten Hag told Amazon Prime Video. “I will deal with that tomorrow.

“Not today, we celebrate this victory and now we have to recover from this and Saturday, Chelsea, another big game, the Premier League, so exciting.”

Ten Hag added in his post-match press conference: "I don’t pay attention today. We deal with that tomorrow. The focus today was on a magnificent performance from all the 11 players.”

While Thierry Hery also refused to discuss Ronaldo’s gesture, instead emphasising how impressive the hosts performed.

“The story is not Ronaldo walking down the tunnel early before the whistle. This was a brilliant performance from United and we don’t need to speak about Ronaldo every day,” Henry said on Amazon Prime Video.

“When there’s three or four players that can get man of the match, you know it’s been a fantastic performance. There was a lot of security from the manager who managed the game perfectly, and you’re starting to see that the players really respect him.”

Elsewhere, Danny Mills labelled Ronaldo’s act as “incredibly disrespectful”.

“It's a little bit of a selfish act, to go, 'i'm not involved'. He knows full well, everybody will see him,” the former England international said on Sky Sports. “You know what it's like at Old Trafford, you have to walk all the way down the touchline, it’s not like you can sneak out, you have to walk 50, 60 yards.

“I feel sorry for United and Ten Hag, it’s an outstanding result against a top side, all it will be about now is Ronaldo. It’s incredibly disrespectful.”