Moussa Dembele’s wink after Aaron Cresswell’s red card at Europa League 2021-22 draws comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo’s infamous incident at FIFA World Cup 2006

Moussa Dembele’s wink after Aaron Cresswell’s red card at Europa League 2021-22 draws comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo’s infamous incident at FIFA World Cup 2006

Facing West Ham in the Quarterfinals of the Europa League 2021-22 on Thursday, Lyon striker Moussa Dembele did a wink after a controversial red card shown to opposition defender Aaron Cresswell, drawing him comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous win at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

During the 45th minute of the match, Aaron Cresswell received a red card for his challenge on Moussa Dembele. What followed was the French striker winking at his teammate on one knee holding the ball, which the fans found reminiscent of an infamous incident involving a Portuguese great, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The infamous ‘wink’ of Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2006 FIFA World Cup

During the 2006 World Cup Cristiano Ronaldo while playing against England involved himself in an infamous incident. After his then Manchester United teammate, Wayne Rooney stamped on Ricardo Carvalho, he pleaded with the referee to send him off after which the English man was shown a red card and barred from the pitch.

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Cristiano Ronaldo winks following Rooney send-off

Following Rooney’s suspension, Ronaldo faced the Portugal bench to wink at his teammates which sparked up a lot of controversy around the incident. However, later, it became evident that it wasn’t a display of notoriety or dirty tactics rather a gesture showed by instinct time and time again during matches and candids released by the press.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case this time as it didn’t fit well with the fans who are furious at Moussa Dembele charging him with unprofessionalism as well as the referee, Felix Zwayer, who has come under scrutiny for his decisions. Former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole even called the referee’s decision ‘awful’ as his side failed to win at home.

What followed for West ham was a hard game with few chances to be played with 10 men as they tied against Lyon on the night. They will face them again next week in the second leg at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, which could prove to be a tougher battle for the Hammers.

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