Police confirm investigation after claims that Ronaldo SMASHED a fan's phone

Merseyside Police have confirmed they are investigating an incident after Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of smashing an Everton supporter's phone following Manchester United's 1-0 defeat.

Ronaldo has since apologised for his angry 'outburst' in the Goodison Park tunnel and invited the affected supporter to come and watch a game at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese superstar was furious after the Red Devils' defeat by Frank Lampard's side on Saturday afternoon and United are looking into the incident.

In a message on Twitter, Merseyside Police wrote: '@MerseyOPolice can confirm that they’re carrying out an investigating following an incident at the #EVEMAN match at Goodison involving a player as they were walking off the pitch and will be speaking to all parties involved.'

In his social media post after the game, Ronaldo wrote: 'It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing. Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.

'I would like to apologize for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship.'

A video surfaced of Ronaldo apparently lowering his right hand towards the ground in frustration. He is seen making contact with what appears to be a fan's phone.

The item instantly dropped to the floor and fans jeered the striker as a result of the incident.

A message from a Sarah Kelly on social media has accused Ronaldo of 'assaulting a child'.

She wrote: 'Well a lovely game at the match turned into me and Jake with the police.

'Can't believe I'm saying this but Ronaldo smashed Jake's phone out of his hand while he was recording him coming off at full time.

'I'm shocked that a professional footballer can assault a child like this. If anyone can get any videos of this for me I believe they're on Instagram already.

'I'm not on there please share! These football players are thugs. He's a dad himself how would he feel if this was done to his kid????'

United supporters were quick to defend Ronaldo. Some said it was the 37-year-old's shin pad as he’s seen holding just one. However, his second shin pad appears to be in his sock.

And United are looking into the incident to determine exactly what happened following the club's 1-0 loss to Everton on Saturday.

It was not a good day at the office for Ronaldo or United - who have won just one of their last five Premier League games.

As a result, the Red Devils now look unlikely to qualify for the Champions League next season.

David de Gea described Manchester United's defeat to Everton as 'a disgrace' after failing to beat the 17th placed team at Goodison Park on Saturday.

'It's a disgrace from us, to be honest, we should win the game,' De Gea told BT Sport. We don't create, that's the problem. We don't even create proper chances to score. I don't know what to say, to be honest.

The Manchester United goalkeeper went on to say: 'We're not good enough, that's for sure. It's going to be very difficult now to be in the top four.'

'We knew before they were struggling, but how difficult it is to play here even when they are not in a good mood, but they play with more desire.

'They played on Wednesday, they were tired, they were a bit nervous, you could feel it, and even with that we lose the game.

'Of course it's not the perfect atmosphere. But you could see they were tired, they were nervous, and come on, they keep going and keep fighting to win. They had more desire than us. That is not acceptable, and it's very sad to lose today.'

Meanwhile, United interim boss Ralf Rangnick said: 'If you don't score a single goal in 95 minutes you have to be disappointed.

'We made a good start to the game, had control over the game in the first 25 minutes. We should have created more chances out of that domination in the first 25 minutes.

'Then we conceded a deflected shot, a goal after a deflected shot, and after that lost a little bit of our composure and stride.

'Second half we tried to add more creativity and verticality with our substitutions, but didn't always take the right decisions. In the end we couldn't score a single goal in 95 minutes.'