LIVE: Manchester United vs Newcastle – Cristiano Ronaldo almost finds himself in on goal

86 mins: And a Manchester United substitution now. Bruno Fernandes comes off for Donny van de Beek – a rare outing for him at Old Trafford.

Jeff Hendrick does indeed come on, with Joe Willock making way.

85 mins: Another substitution for Newcastle. Jamal Lewis comes on for Ciaran Clark.

No attacking substitutions from Steve Bruce so far. Even with Dwight Gayle and Jeff Hendrick on the bench.

80 mins: Who said Bruno Fernandes would struggle with Cristiano Ronaldo at the club?

It’s a brilliant breakaway by United, with David de Gea starting the move with a brilliant long ball up to Mason Greenwood, who holds the ball up well on the edge of the Newcastle box.

Greenwood finds Pogba, who feeds Bruno Fernandes on the edge of the box. Under no pressure whatsoever, he finds the top corner with a brilliant effort from 25 yards out.

77 mins: Newcastle make their first sub of the game. Goalscorer Javier Manquillo comes off and Jacob Murphy, who has a goal in him, is on in the Spaniard’s place.

76 mins: Corner to Man United, which is cleared to the back post where Mason Greenwood is waiting.

The Red Devils winger cuts inside to the right foot which he used to score against Wolves a fortnight ago but his effort is blocked.

53 mins: More dangerous play from Newcastle here. Javier Manquillo and Matt Ritchie put in some testing balls in but there is nobody on the end of them. At the other end, Nemanja Matic blasts over the bar.

Overall, Newcastle can be pleased with their efforts so far. They have caused this all-star United side some problems. They just switched off at the end of that half.

51 mins: Allan Saint-Maximin bursts down the left hand side after skipping away from Paul Pogba. The Newcastle winger puts a cross in towards a dangerous area but Raphael Varane’s positioning is superb.

United lead a breakaway as Jadon Sancho tries to get Ronaldo involved for the first time this half but the England man’s pass is too loose.

46 mins: Bruno Fernandes gets us back underway at Old Trafford.

Teams are back out for the second-half. We’ve had our Ronaldo moment, but what will happen next?

A Newcastle fightback? More goals for Ronaldo? Some Bruno or Jadon Sancho magic? The next 45 minutes will tell us.

An eventful first-half, but there’s only one moment to talk about.

Sir Alex looked pleased with that one.

And that ends the half. One that Newcastle, for 46 minutes, could look back on with a great deal of pride.

But then Ronaldo happens. The Portuguese forward tapped home after a mistake from Freddie Woodman right on the stroke of half-time. Old Trafford erupted.

A bit harsh on Steve Bruce’s men, who played very well at both ends of the pitch, but you can’t gift chances like that to people like Ronaldo.

45+2 mins: Written. In. The. Stars.

Just as the first-half was petering out. Mason Greenwood cuts inside down the right and fires a shot from the edge of the box. It takes a wicked deflection and that stuns Freddie Woodman and it falls into the path of you know who.

Ronaldo taps home. Cue pandemonium. Siiiuuuu all round.

Nemanja Matic lets fly from distance but another Magpies block comes in. Steve Bruce, the former centre-back, will be pleased with his side’s resilience so far.

39 mins: Another testing breakaway from Newcastle. Allan Saint-Maximin does brilliantly down the right and frees up Sean Longstaff in the area. Longstaff goes down under Harry Maguire’s challenge but Anthony Taylor says no penalty again.

And then United break through Nemanja Matic, who frees the man of the moment. Ronaldo takes on several Newcastle defenders with stepovers, but the visiting backline block another shot.

Bruno Fernandes then tries to find Mason Greenwood at the back post but it just evades the United No 11.

35 mins: First penalty shout back at United for Ronaldo.

The United No 7 tries to jump on a loose ball in the box and goes to ground under Jamal Lascelles’ challenge. United fans roar for a spot kick, not much of an appeal from the players. Anthony Taylor says no.

Allan Saint-Maximin, who has been very bright this afternoon with Miguel Almiron, then drags a shot wide of David de Gea’s near post.

32 mins: Manchester United are really warming up now. Paul Pogba frees up Bruno Fernandes down the right and while Newcastle defenders occupy Ronaldo in the middle, it leaves Jadon Sancho free at the back post.

Sancho’s first touch is poor and that allows Newcastle defenders to come back and block his shot. From the resulting corner, Harry Maguire can only head down into the arms of Freddie Woodman.

30 mins: Man United are warming up. A good end-to-end feel of this game.

Bruno Fernandes fires goalwards from 30 yards and the shot nearly falls into the path of Jadon Sancho.

The £73m man gets a slight touch on it and the overall effort from United flies just wide of Freddie Woodman’s post but anything more on it and it may have crept in that bottom corner.

28 mins: Big, big, big chance for Newcastle.

It’s slack from Manchester United with Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes being involved in a mix-up from a throw-in and Joe Willock charges into the United area.

Willock should square it to Saint-Maximin in the box for a tap-in but goes for goal himself and blazes over. Massive chance wasted, how costly could that be?

Fernandes tries another speculative effort at the other end but fires over the bar again.

26 mins: Bruno Fernandes is looking for a few headlines of his own here.

The Portuguese midfielder tries to score from the half-way line after spotting Freddie Woodman off his line. The Newcastle goalkeeper is scrambling a little but Fernandes’ speculative effort is over the bar.

Newcastle are then warned about time-wasting, with the Old Trafford crowd a little annoyed with the lack of urgency from the Magpies backline in this first half an hour.

23 mins: Another Ronaldo shot alert! But this one leads to a Newcastle counter attack.

The Portuguese forward tries a shot from the edge of the box but Isaac Hayden blocks and clears – which leads to a break by Allan Saint-Maximin.

Saint-Maximin and Almiro carry the ball forward and the ball breaks to Matt Ritchie on the edge of the box, but his shot is deflected into the path of David de Gea who saves well.

Not a bad start from Steve Bruce’s side.

19 mins: So close for Manchester United!

It’s another home debutant, Raphael Varane, who nearly heads the Red Devils in front. Luke Shaw’s corner finds him at the near post and the Frenchman heads just wide of Freddie Woodman’s post.

A difficult chance, but it nearly paid off.

17 mins: Mason Greenwood tries to lead the Manchester United counter-attack and tries to find Ronaldo who ventured out down to the left. The Portuguese forward tried to carry the move forward, but Javier Manquillo gets back well to deny him.

Paul Pogba then looks for Ronaldo and Co inside the box but Freddie Woodman is out well to claim the cross.

15 mins: Another reminder that Newcastle hold some threat here this afternoon.

Miguel Almiron picks Paul Pogba’s pocket and Allan Saint-Maximin can break. The Frenchman tees up Matt Ritchie whose shot is blocked.

11 mins: That’s more like it from Ronaldo.

The 36-year-old combines well with Jadon Sancho down the left then drives at the Newcastle backline. He is forced wide by the Magpies defenders but still gets a shot off, but the effort hits the side netting.

9 mins: Ronaldo’s first shot of the game… and it’s a flop.

Bruno Fernandes tries to pick him out again with a ball over the top but Ciaran Clark gets in the way. Ronaldo pounces on the rebound but falls over his feet and his shot barely gets off the ground.

Not the best start to life back at Old Trafford…

8 mins: Chance for United now and Paul Pogba unlocks the Newcastle defence with a lovely clipped, first-time ball over the top of the backline.

Bruno Fernandes looks like he’s clear but can only head wide of goal. He tried to chip Freddie Woodman in goal with his effort but he got his bearings all wrong.

7 mins: First shot of the game goes to… Newcastle!

Brazilian striker Joelinton, replacing Callum Wilson up front for the Magpies, bursts down the left and beats a couple of United defenders. He gets into the box but he fires wide of the near post. Too much drag on that effort.

A reminder to United that this is not just a Ronaldo Party match.

5 mins: First sight of goal for Ronaldo! And Bruno Fernandes is at the heart of the move.

Fernandes wins a loose ball in the Newcastle half and tries to clip the ball over to Ronaldo. The United No 7 controls it with his head but his touch is too loose.

A first sighting of that partnership between the Portuguese pair.

2 mins: United line-up as we would expect. Jadon Sancho on the left, Mason Greenwood right and Cristiano Ronaldo just ahead of Bruno Fernandes up front.

Ronaldo’s first touch is to close down a Newcastle defender to concede a throw-in near the half-way line. Cue uproar from United faithful.

0 mins: We’re underway! The visitors get us underway at Old Trafford!

Right here come the two teams – and Ronaldo is back out in the red of United. Right at the back of the United team and the number seven shining bright in the Old Trafford sunshine.

Kick-off – and the return – is imminent…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Ronaldo: He’s been good, trained well. Everyone can see why he’s still going. He’s  so meticulous and professional in everything he does. When he steps onto this pitch, we will get another 5 to 10 per cent extra.

Incredible to see Ronaldo back in the Premier League, let alone at Manchester United.

The last time he played Newcastle at home in the Premier League, he scored a hat-trick for the Red Devils. Another would go down quite nicely with the United fans this afternoon.

Right, here’s your 20-minute warning until kick-off, here’s a reminder of the two teams:

Man United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Varane, Shaw; Matic, Pogba; Sancho, Fernandes, Greenwood; Ronaldo

Newcastle: Woodman; Manquillo, Hayden, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie; Willock, Longstaff, Almiron; Joelinton, Saint-Maximin

Raucous applause meets Cristiano Ronaldo as he comes out to warm-up at Old Trafford.

Back where he belongs. Back at Old Trafford, back in front of the fans.

Fans have already flocked to their Old Trafford seats to catch a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo in his warm-up this afternoon. Only David de Gea out there so far, but he’s not too far away from coming out.

It’s not just Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford here, Steve Bruce is back at the place he captained Manchester United to a top-flight title in 1992.

A tough ask for his side this evening against such a strong Manchester United side, but Allan Saint-Maximin and Joe Willock will be areas of concern for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this evening.

Back to Old Trafford and one of the big questions surrounding Ronaldo’s return is – can he gel with countryman Bruno Fernandes better than he does for Portugal?

The pair have struggled to find their spark on international level, as was seen at Euro 2020 over the summer, but they will need to get their act together if they want to fire United to trophies this season.

They both start this afternoon, can they get off to the perfect start together at club level?