Andros Townsend reveals what Cristiano Ronaldo told him after he asked for his shirt

Manchester United were held back to a 1-1 draw against Everton in the Premier League on Saturday. The Cristiano Ronaldo trademark celebration was seen but it was not by the Portuguese superstar himself but by Everton's Andros Townsend when he hit the equaliser in the second half. Abdoulaye Doucouré got the ball from Demaria Gray and switched it to Townsend who put the ball into the back of the net to equalise after a razor-sharp Everton counter-attack. After the match, Townsend was seen asking Ronaldo for his shirt as they were walking back to the tunnel at Old Trafford and the Everton midfielder revealed what the five-time Ballon d'Or winner told him. Townsend talked about discussing the celebration with his teammates on the bus on their way to Manchester. He was asked if he would do the 'Siuuu' celebration if he scored and responded by saying yes he would. His teammates did warn him to do it later in the match otherwise Ronaldo could possibly score again and make Townsend look foolish.

Townsend told talkSPORT Breakfast: “We were discussing it on the coach the day before on the way up to Manchester. The boys were saying, would you do it if you scored? I said yeah, but the one thing they said was to make sure you are winning or it is late in the game, so Ronaldo doesn’t have a chance to reply. He then added that he almost fell back while doing the celebration. He then saw the time and realised it was 65 minutes, meaning he had given 'the greatest player' about half an hour to score the winner. Luckily for Townsend, the former Real Madrid striker did not as Everton held on for a 1-1 draw.“I got a bit carried away, almost buckled and fell on my back, I looked up at the clock and it was 65 minutes. I gave the greatest player half an hour to make me look silly and score the winner. Thankfully he didn’t. (I went) very early, every ball that went into the box I thought ‘he was going to make me look a complete fool’. Thankfully we held out for the point in the end," Townsend said.

Not leaving Old Trafford without Cristiano Ronaldo's shirt

Townsend then revealed how the shirt-swapping conversation played out between him and Cristiano. He said that he ran up to the Portuguese forward who was muttering something in Portuguese and asked him three or four times for his shirt. Ronaldo eventually gave in and said he would give the shirt to Townsend inside. The 30-year-old said that he had to wait inside the dressing room and the kit man sorted it out for him.

"I made it my goal that I was not leaving Old Trafford without Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt. You saw after the final whistle, I ran straight to him, I don’t know what he was muttering but it wasn’t English. He was muttering in Portuguese and I asked him three or four times for his shirt and eventually, he gave in and said he would give it to me inside. I had to wait inside the dressing room and thankfully the kit man was able to sort it for me. That shirt I am going to keep with me."

Image: AP