Erik ten Hag has made the astonishing revelation he kept Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the Manchester derby 'out of respect for his big career'.
The 37-year-old Portuguese superstar was named among the substitutes for Man United's trip to the Etihad Stadium, but he did not feature as the hosts ran out 6-3 winners.
Man City went 4-0 up in the first half with two goals each from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. Both added an additional goal in the second half to secure their hat-tricks.
While Antony scored a fine strike, and Anthony Martial came off the bench to score a brace himself, Ronaldo was clearly frustrated at not coming on at any stage of the match.
After the match, ten Hag told reporters that Ronaldo remained unused 'out of respect for his big career', but did not elaborate further.
'And the other thing was the advantage I could bring Martial, he needs the minutes but I don't want to point it out like that,' the 52-year-old Dutchman added.
Ronaldo has started just one Premier League fixture since ten Hag came in this summer, and instead, the former Ajax boss chose to start the same 11 that beat Arsenal 3-1 at the start of September.
However, those players infuriated him with their derby day performance, and he said United showed 'a lack of belief' as their blue rivals dismantled them.
'There are never excuses in top football, you have to bring results,' he said, noting that he would not take the lack of Premier League games over the past month as a reason for the heavy defeat.
United's next fixtures include two Europa League games against Cypriot side Omonia, either side of a domestic trip to Everton next Sunday.
