Cristiano Ronaldo was absolutely electric in his first spell at Manchester United.

Over the course of six years, the Portuguese superstar netted 118 goals in all competitions, won nine major honours and scooped the coveted Ballon d'Or award in 2008.

To put it simply, Ronaldo is arguably the greatest player the Premier League has ever seen and it's why fans of the English game are incredibly excited by his return to Old Trafford.

But while most of the things he produced in the famous red shirt first time around were of the highest quality, there were a few small negatives.

Ronaldo was no stranger to a red card at United, the 36-year-old picking up four during his six-year spell in Manchester between 2003 and 2009.

Two of them were handed to him in derby games versus Manchester City, while the others came against Aston Villa and Portsmouth.

Ronaldo vs Portsmouth

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And were it not for Frank Lampard's honesty, the enigmatic forward would have been dismissed from the field of play in England on five occasions.

In January 2009, shortly before his £80 million move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo and United hosted Chelsea at Old Trafford and they beat their title rivals 3-0.

It was a great day for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, but towards the end of proceedings, Ronaldo should have been sent off by referee Howard Webb for a late tackle on Lampard.

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The Portuguese forward was already on a yellow card when he caught the English midfielder on the shin with a rather nasty-looking challenge.

But instead of making a meal of it, Lampard quickly jumped to his feet, cracked a smile and had a little embrace with Ronaldo, a reaction which prompted Webb to leave the red card in his pocket.

Take a look at footage of the incident here...

Video: Lampard stops Ronaldo getting sent off

Well played, Frank.

Sportsmanship really is great, isn't it?

Far too often these days, footballers seek to gain an advantage for their team by pathetically exaggerating an injury and getting an opposing player sent off as a result.

It's not what fans want to see and sadly, even the the use of VAR in the Premier League has not helped eradicate the issue once and for all.