Erik ten Hag stands by his decision to axe Cristiano Ronaldo over Old Trafford strop

Erik Ten Hag insisted he has no regrets in exiling Cristiano Ronaldo from the squad as the reverberations from the United manager’s decision continued, with United legend Gary Neville and Roy Keane having a heated argument on Sky TV over the decision.

Ten Hag was helped by a 94th minute Casemiro header, which earned United a deserved point at Chelsea, but without which ten Hag would clearly have faced more questions as to whether disciplining Ronaldo for refusing to come on against Tottenham and walking off to the dressing room early was the correct decision.

Ten Hag insisted that Casemiro’s goal should be seen as significant in its own right without reference to Ronaldo and reiterated his stance that the United legend and five-time World Player of the Year had to be kicked out of the squad for the long-term good of the club.

Ten Hag said: ‘Of course the goal is big moment to collect that point and it was a well-deserved point. But it doesn’t have any matter with that case [Ronaldo] because it is more important to have the right culture and standards and values. The longer term is always more important and in the end that will bring you into the right position.’

Meanwhile Keane and Neville were involved in an impassioned argument in the post match analysis on opposite sides of the the debate.

Keane said: ‘If you have a striker who scores a goal every two games, I don’t care what age he is, he’ll do for me.

‘He certainly feels he’s been unfairly treated. When you get that, as a senior pro, then it’s almost that justified anger. He is going to react that way. He’s got flaws, like everybody else.’

But in an emotional debate, Neville countered: ‘Scoring goals is the most important thing in a football team. I know this sounds crazy but you can be a better team without players who are just goal-scorers. It’s happened time and time again.

‘I hope he leaves next week and says to the club, “thank you very much” and the club says to him “thank you very much” And he goes finds a new club. Because I’d like to see him play until he’s 42, scoring a thousand goals.’