Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer committed a "sackable offence" by benching Cristiano Ronaldo against Everton.
That is the verdict of Gabriel Agbonlahor, who rubbished United's chances of winning the Premier League under Solskjaer after he appeared to be "happy with a draw" at the full-time whistle.
The Norwegian chose to leave Ronaldo out of the starting XI to face the Toffees after the 36-year-old played the entirety of the Champions League clash with Villarreal three days earlier, scoring a 95th-minute winner.
The Portugal striker came off the bench in the second half with United leading 1-0 thanks to Anthony Martial's opener.
But Andros Townsend hit back for Everton on 65 minutes to ensure Rafa Benitez's side emerged from Old Trafford with a point and putting the spotlight firmly on Solskjaer for benching Ronaldo.
Agbonlahor cannot understand the decision, pointing out the five-time Ballon d'Or winner did not return to United to take a place among the substitutes.
"It’s a sackable offence not to start Ronaldo in itself," the former Aston Villa and England striker told talkSPORT.
"Ronaldo you have to play him, you just put yourself under so much pressure by not playing him, he has to start.
"He’s been brought in on probably £700,000 a week so to play games and win leagues for Manchester United.
"He’s in that squad to win the Premier League this season. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not going to win the league for Manchester United."
Agbonlahor was also less than impressed by Solskjaer appearing to smile and laugh in the dying seconds, when United should have been throwing everything at Everton in search of a winner.
Did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer make a mistake benching Cristiano Ronaldo, or is he right to manage the 36-year-old's workload? Have your say in the comments.
"Even the last 30 seconds of the game he’s laughing on the touchline," added Agbonlahor of Solskjaer. "It just shows he’s happy with a draw, you shouldn’t be happy with a draw against Everton at home."
While Solskjaer did not necessarily seem "happy with a draw", he took plenty of positives from the performance against Everton, which came after a busy run of domestic and European games.
"It has been a big month," he said. "Lots of changes have happened at the club in the last month.
"So we’ve just got to be focused, make sure we use the international break well, us as coaches, who stay at home.
"The other ones who go away with their national teams come back with energy again, clear focus, good mindset and do well.
"But the mindset is good, the players are hungry to improve and today we dominated the game, we just couldn’t get that second goal that you need in games like this because Everton, as we knew from last season, can score a goal from nowhere."
