Cristiano Ronaldo shared a sweet moment with a tearful, pitch-invading little girl, giving her a big hug and handing over his jersey

• Cristiano Ronaldo gave his jersey to a tearful young fan who ran on the pitch to hug him after a match.
• The girl had evaded security to greet Ronaldo after Portugal's draw with Ireland on Thursday.

Cristiano Ronaldo gave his jersey to a tearful young fan who ran on the pitch to hug him after a Portugal drew 0-0 with the Republic or Ireland in World Cup Qualifying on Thursday night.

The Manchester United star endured a frustrating night at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as he was shackled by Ireland's defenders, who prevented him from adding to his world record tally of 115 international goals.

After the final whistle, a young girl wearing an Ireland shirt found her way on to the pitch and sprinted over to Ronaldo.

Security was about to usher her away, but Ronaldo intervened, hugging her before handing over his shirt, prompting rapturous applause from the stands, and hysterical tears from the child.

Ronaldo's sweet exchange with the young girl wasn't his only encounter with a pitch invader during Thursday's match in the Irish capital.

Earlier on in the tie, an older male fan evaded security, ran on to the field, and stormed directly at the 36-year-old and tried to grab him for an embrace.

Ronaldo, visibly shocked, dodged out of the way of the intruder before the man was dragged away by stewards.

Despite the draw against Ireland, Portugal remains top of Group A in World Cup qualifying having enjoyed an impressive campaign.

Fernando Santos' side has won five of its seven matches with Ronaldo scoring six goals, making him the group's second top scorer behind Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrović, who has seven.

Portugal meet Serbia in Lisbon on Sunday, where a draw will be enough to see it qualify for next year's World Cup in Qatar.