Fulham midfielder Andreas Pereira recently opened up on how he drew the ire of Manchester City fans by imitating Manchester United legend Cristiano Ronaldo. The Brazilian copied the Portuguese superstar’s iconic ‘Siu’ celebration in the Cottagers’ game against the Cityzens earlier this year.
Speaking to Premier League Brazil, Pereira, a former Red Devil himself, said:
“For me, it’s always a place where you want to win (the Etihad Stadium). When the goal came against City, I just thought, ‘What am I going to do here in this stadium to irritate the fans… I’m going to bring on CR7.'”
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He went on to add how his teammates reacted when he said he was going to do the celebration:
“I celebrated, and the guys (from Fulham) all said: ‘You’re crazy’. I’m a fan of his (Cristiano Ronaldo) and not just at this stadium (Etihad) either, if he scores now, for the national team, anyway, I would do it again.”
The fixture in October saw Pereira get on the scoresheet in the first half. It did not prove to be a fruitful evening for him, however, as Manchester City managed to complete a 3-2 win.
After a stint with Manchester United as a youth player and failing to break into the first team, the 28-year-old joined Fulham in the summer of 2022 for a reported fee of £10 million. He has gone on to become a regular feature for Marco Silva, starting in all of their 11 Premier League games this season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer names Manchester United coach who advised against signing Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently spoke about the club’s reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo back in the summer of 2021. The Norwegian suggested that former Red Devils coach and current Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna opposed the decision.
Speaking on Norwegian outlet NRK’s podcast (via GOAL) Solskjaer recalled McKenna expressing concern over the Portuguese striker’s defensive frailties.
“How are we going to defend ourselves? That’s the first thing he [McKenna] says,” he said.
“It was probably a wrong choice for all of us. But we felt it was the right decision then and there,” he added.
After emerging as one of the world’s best at Old Trafford, Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009. He had a glittering career with Los Blancos, winning the Champions League four times while also winning four Ballon d’Or trophies.
A stint with Juventus followed before a much-heralded return to Manchester United. A fruitful first season under Solskjaer saw him finish as the Red Devils’ top scorer for 2021-22 (24 goals). However, he left the following season after a disagreement with new manager Erik ten Hag and now plies his trade in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr.
