Wayne Rooney's return to Everton produced the predicted hostile reception but for once the Manchester United star was overshadowed by team-mate Ronaldo who made the first and scored the second to book his side's place in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
This was Rooney's first time back at Everton since he left in a controversial 27-million-pound transfer at the start of the season and the striker was subjected to the expected torrents of abuse and was himself the target of missiles flying down from the stands.
But it was United keeper Roy Carroll, however, who became the unexpected victim of the home crowd's fury when he was struck by a mobile phone thrown from behind his goal and required treatment before continuing the game.
As so often during his short career, Rooney appeared to relish the big occasion although for once he could not cap his performance with a goal and in fact spurned two clear chances in the second half to silence his tormentors.
In a game that failed to live up to it's pre-match billing as a potential classic, the misses could have proved costly.
Thankfully for the United man, team-mate Ronaldo underlined once again his growing maturity with a display that proved to be the difference between the two teams.
With both sides employing a lone forward - Marcus Bent mirrored Rooney's role for the home side - the respective defences dominated although the presence of Ronaldo on the right hand side provided United with the more incisive cutting edge.
And after a promising spell of early Everton pressure that almost gave the home side the opener when Fortune hacked Bent's header off the line, it was the Portugal winger who swung the tie United's way.
With 23 minutes gone, the former Sporting Lisbon youngster embarked on a trademark flowing dash down the flank before floating a tempting cross in front of Nigel Martyn's goal.
The speed of Ronaldo's break had disorientated Everton's back-pedalling defence and, without a marker in sight, Quinton Fortune headed home from close range for his first goal of the season.
Bent again had a clear chance to drag his side back into the game two minutes before the interval but again fluffed his lines when he shot straight at the alert Carroll who had moved quickly off his line.
Everton best hopes of retrieving something from the tie lay in their ability to provide Bent with some much needed support and restoring parity early in the second half.
Instead, however, they gifted United a second courtesy of an unlikely 58th minute blunder by the normally secure Martyn to hand Ronaldo the simplest of tasks to seal the win.
Martyn was distracted when Paul Scholes' free kick took an unkind deflection and could only parry the ball in the direction of the Portuguese who rolled the ball into the empty net.