2R on fire for United; MU 2:0 Bolton

A controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty put Manchester United on the road to their first Premier League home win of the season - a 2-0 victory over Bolton.

Bolton were proving difficult opponents to overcome until referee Rob Styles amazingly awarded a penalty when he seemed perfectly placed to see Jlloyd Samuel play the ball as he made a tackle on Ronaldo.

The Portugal winger took full advantage of Styles' generosity and substitute Wayne Rooney wrapped up the win 13 minutes from time, curling home in superb fashion after exchanging passes with Ronaldo near the Bolton box.

Cris 1st goal this season; MU 3:1 Middlesbrough(Carling Cup)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his first start of the season in Manchester United's 3-1 League Cup victory over Middlesbrough and Mexican star Carlos Vela hit three as Arsenal's youngsters overwhelmed Sheffield United 6-0 on Tuesday.

Liverpool edged League One Crewe 2-1 but West Ham and Fulham were the victims of third-round upsets. The Hammers lost 1-0 at Watford and Fulham went down 1-0 at Burnley.
With the Premier and Champions Leagues to think about, the top clubs fielded many of their young stars in the race for the third most important title in English football.

But Ronaldo had been sidelined for three months because of an ankle injury and, after two appearances as a substitute, marked his first start by heading home a corner by Ryan Giggs in the 25th minute against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford.

After Adam Johnson's 56th-minute deflected shot levelled for Boro, teammate and defender Emmanuel Pogatetz was sent off for a foul that led to lengthy treatment for United forward Rodrigo Possebon. Ryan Giggs then punished a blunder by Chris Riggott to put United back in front in the 70th, and Nani added the third in injury time.

MU 1:1 Chelsea

United clinched a valuable point at Stamford Bridge but, having taken the lead through Ji-sung Park, could have snatched all three points were it not for slack marking from a Chelsea free-kick, allowing Salomon Kalou to grab a late equaliser....More

CR return gets a real welcome; MU 0:0 Villarreal

Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal in Champions League Group E - but welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo back into action.

The Red Devils bossed possession at Old Trafford and had two penalty appeals involving Park Ji-Sung turned down.

But after Guillermo Franco hit United's upright with a cheeky back-heeled effort on 59, fit-again winger Ronaldo came off the bench on 62 and his cross set up a late chance for defender Jonny Evans, who steered a low header against the visitors' upright on 83 minutes.

Nani and Carlos Tevez forced decent saves from Diego Lopez, but Park was unlucky not to win at least one spot-kick after seemingly being fouled in the box by Sebastian Eguren and then Joan Capdevila.

Franco beat Edwin van der Sar but not the woodwork with his back-heel - but Ronaldo's introduction sparked United into life and only the post denied Evans a match-winner in the dying stages.

Afterwards Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the reception Cristiano Ronaldo received during the goalless Champions League draw at home to Villarreal will have convinced the player he made the right decision in staying with the club.

"He has had a turbulent summer and a lot has been said about it but when I had my meeting in June in Portugal with him that was over," Ferguson said.

"He dedicated himself to getting fit and his commitment to the club.

"It (the crowd's reception) was important for Cristiano.

"I think he realises what a great club he is at and how loyal the fans are. He will take great encouragement from that."

Despite the disappointment of a draw in their opening Champions League match, Ferguson was relatively happy with the performance from a team which included a number of players short of match practice.

"We made a lot of good chances, we played really good football, we played with speed," he added.

Cris back for United against Villarreal

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will make his long-awaited comeback against Villarreal in the Champions League tomorrow night.

The Manchester United manager said the Portugal winger would play some part in United's opening match of their European campaign after recovering from an ankle operation in July.

Ferguson will be without Michael Carrick, who has broken his foot, and revealed that Dimitar Berbatov is likely to also miss the match with a knee injury. However, Ferguson said Berbatov's fitness would have no bearing on his decision to recall Ronaldo.

"He [Ronaldo] will certainly be involved," the manager said. "Whether he will be starting or not will not be determined by the fitness of other players. It's still a major decision but I would think it is more likely he will start on the bench."

Ferguson dismissed suggestions that the player could be abused by fans after his flirtation with Real Madrid over the summer.

"I don't think there are any concerns about that," Ferguson said. "The fans understand the situation, that he was a young man tempted by the lure of money, but since we told him our decision he has accepted it well and his training has been fantastic.

"He had said that he would like to go to Real Madrid, but once we had our meeting, that was all finished. He accepted our decision and just got on with it and there hasn't been one problem since.

"And in terms of his injury, he has been one of the best patients I've ever seen. He has been working hard, every day until 5pm, and he has shown a real determination to get back and play for us.

"He has shown fantastic maturity over the last few weeks. There has been no pettiness, no chucking toys out of the pram. He has worked hard every day and his recovery is a credit to him and the physios."

Golden Shoe

Cristiano Ronaldo is already at Funchal, where he will receive the GoldenShoe this Saturday. Ronaldo arrived with very straight security, and although it was difficult to get to the players, the Portuguese player said a few words.

«It is a pride to receive the GoldenShoe at Madeira, and it is a compliment to my father and to my family.», he said to a huge number of journalists.
Manchester United’s star travelled to Madeira in a private flight, accompanied by his family, and the police built such a huge security project, that the kids who went to the airport to get an autograph turned out with nothing.

The environment towards Ronaldo is huge and it was very quick that the player abandoned the airport, but he said that he was already recovered.

Cristiano Ronaldo was very well.homoured and optimistic on the press conference of the ceremony of the delivery of the GoldenShoe.
«All goals are important, but my favourite was against Roma.»
«Within one or two weeksI'll be 100%. Let's see if the doctors let me. For the National Team, in october, I'll be even better.»

«I'm anxious to get back. I'm going crazy with so much time stopped. If he (Ferguson) wants to count on me (for VillaReal Match) make it his wish»
«Only misses who is there. That's what they say. They have lost with me too. At last year's season we also lost firts games, and we were champions. Of course that begining bad is always complicated, but I have hope that ManUtd will return to victoys very soon.»

«There are very nice laces. But I like Madeira, that is where the people who I like are, and this is a place like any other place. And this serves to prove to people who like me and admire me that I'm still the same whether a win a lot of awards or not. But sometimes I cant give so much attention, like yesterday at the airport, because sometimes "accidents" happen.»

»I never thought to cost that much» (ManCity)
»The boy is expensive» he said in laughs »By one side it is good to hear it, beacuse they are giving me a lot of value, but it can by only mouth (llaughs). Sometimes money cant make bug teams. I don't see myself moving from ManUtd to ManCity.»
About Zidane: «It's good to hear it from one of the Best player in the world. Every player knows who deserves the prize (FIFA award), they saw the seaosn that each player done. I think taht by my regularity, and by the goals I scored in the Champions League and English League I deserve the prize. We'll see in December.»

Cris is ready

Cristiano Ronaldo could make a shock return for United in the next few days after Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he may take the winger with him to Anfield.

Wednesday's Champions League Group E opener against Villarreal at Old Trafford might be a safer bet, but either way the news is a significant and surprising boost to United as some reports had suggested last season's 42-goal hero would be out of action until October.

The Portuguese winger has been sidelined since undergoing a successful ankle operation in Amsterdam at the start of July. However, his rehab work in Manchester has gone so well in recent weeks that his inclusion in Sir Alex's XI is now close.

Sir Alex told MUTV on Friday morning: "Ronaldo is training now, he's with the first team. He's come on leaps and bounds and I may take him with us tomorrow, who knows? But he's more likely to be involved next week.

"I think we mentioned a couple of weeks ago he was making rapid progress in terms of overcoming the injury problem he had and the training he's been doing with the physios and Tony Strudwick the fitness coach.

"He's been making great strides in the direction towards first-team football."

The summer months were riddled with press speculation and uncertainty over his future. But he has decided his future remains in Manchester and his impending return to action is a real filip for Sir Alex ahead of another key match against Chelsea.