Cristiano Ronaldo Was Denied The Best Assist Of His Career Vs Brighton

Cristiano Ronaldo was denied the best assist of his career against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner ended his six-game goal drought against the Seagulls to take his tally to 15 goals in 27 appearances during his second spell at Manchester United.

Ronaldo picked up the ball outside the box and unleashed a stunning strike past Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal.

The Portuguese superstar refrained from celebrating with his usual 'SIUUUU' celebration and instead performed a passionate knee slide that made you know how important the goal was after a difficult period.

RT the shit outta the Ronaldo goal before they take it down & ban me for it! #MUFC #MUNBHA pic.twitter.com/MAx5FXqFJX

— Ijaz Utd 🇾🇪 (@Utd_Ijaz) February 15, 2022

But what you might not know is that in the same game, Ronaldo very nearly recorded an assist of the season contender.

With United 1-0 up on Tuesday night, Bruno Fernandes fizzed the ball into him under pressure from two Brighton defenders.

This pass from Cristiano Ronaldo is so underratedpic.twitter.com/T7N0d9SPKe

— Total Ronnie (@TotalRonnie) February 16, 2022

The 37-year-old didn't have much time at all and instinctively delivered the most outrageous first-time flicked pass into the path of Fernandes.

The ball looped over the Brighton defence and found the run of his compatriot Fernandes, who looked to be in one-on-one with Sanchez.

However his chest control was a little off and his touch took him away from goal - the chance ultimately going begging.

Fans loved the pass from Ronaldo and reckon he would have had his best ever assist if Fernandes converted:

That pass is acc sick https://t.co/Fm73jFjoYh

— Trent Alexander Arnold till we OD (@GreasyVibez) February 17, 2022

🔥🔥🔥What a unbelievable pass! https://t.co/keGZrzIhUx

— Kayosh Hegde (@kayosh_hegde) February 17, 2022

This could legit have been Assist of the Season. Bruno just dey muzz me. https://t.co/bwCFC3C4W3

— David Niran (@davidnirann) February 17, 2022

Had that gone in, best assist so far https://t.co/bEcFjlj8XM

— HEAVY METAL FOOTBALL FC (@Spartans62) February 17, 2022

What an assist this would've been https://t.co/eccIpJ4Jk1

— 𝓢𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓲𝓷 🐐 (@Redrain_29) February 17, 2022

The flick evoked memories of his 2008 assist for Wayne Rooney against Aston Villa.

After opening the scoring, Ronaldo turned provider when he somehow knew that Rooney was running in behind and produced a glorious backheel that took out the whole Villa backline.

An Explanation is still pending for this from Cristiano Ronaldo pic.twitter.com/uABj1SW50b

— 𝐄𝐂𝐑𝟕. (@ElitxCR7) December 10, 2021

Rooney latched on to the exquisite pass, rounded Scott Carson and slotted home.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo's all-round performance in the 2-0 win over Brighton reminded fans that he's still a special player and drew praise from interim manager Ralf Rangnick.

"That was an amazing goal,” Rangnick said post-match.

“Not only an important one but an amazing goal. I think overall it was a good performance by Cristiano.

"Energetically, he was on there, he was always trying to help the team-mates so I think in the last weeks definitely the best performance by him and a very, very important goal for us.”