Get Out Of Jail Win

I would call the result early this morning as a get out of jail result. Encounters between Manchester United and Villareal in the Champions League have all ended in 0-0 draws and I remember in every match, we have found it tough to break them down and score. We played each other as recently as last season’s Europa League final which also ended as a draw.

Great Villareal Performance

Manchester United got off to a strong, purposeful start, trying to press high and playing with energy but slowly that faded. Villareal started carving us open and created chance after chance denied time and again by David De Gea. The performance was reminiscent of that on Saturday against Aston Villa. In possession, as usual, we looked clueless on how to get past the organised Villareal team. In possession, Villareal was everything United were not, neat, tidy, attacking with pace and verve. Before recording my latest episode on my podcast show, Back Passt With Ras, my co-host was telling me of the UEFA Youth League match between these two teams and Villareal were leading 4-0 at half-time. We joked that we hope that would not be repeated when the senior teams met this morning. If not for De Gea, that prophecy might have turned true.

Deserved Lead For Villareal

Diogo Dalot had a horrendous game deputising for the suspended Aaron Wan-Bissaka as a right-back, Arnaut Danjuma turned him inside and out at will. Going forward, Dalot was over-hitting crosses and it was a miracle that he lasted 90 minutes. I had watched some of his performances for AC Milan last season when he was there on loan and he never looked as bad as he was this morning. No surprise at all that Villareal opened the scoring and that was the least they deserved for all their positive play.

Equalising Goal Made On The Training Ground

Our play did improve after conceding as the frequency of Villareal’s attacks became non-existent but our attacking play was hardly any better. We got back into the game thanks to the individual brilliance and training ground set-piece work of Bruno Fernandes and Alex Telles. Finally, it looked like we worked on a set-piece routine in the training ground. Telles didn’t face as big a challenge as Dalot did defensively and I felt he had a decent game so was surprised when he was brought off instead. We didn’t create much in terms of clear cut chances and the best one we created was from an uncharacteristic miss by Edinson Cavani from yards out of an open goal. He probably took his eye off the ball thinking it would be intercepted by the defender in front of him which is why the header went wide.

Huge Relief

As the match was abling to a 1-1 draw, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to smash home the winner and it was a huge, huge relief to see the ball nestle in the back of the net.  For the first time, there was a winner between Manchester United and Villareal and undeservingly, we have won it. The three points are vital and we take it any which way they come but the performance was a big worry in line with the three defeats in four matches across all competition.

Solksjaer Looks Clueless, Situation Looks Bleak

Solksjaer looks clueless on how to get the best out of the team. The centre midfield is a big mystery and that has led to a loss of control in the matches. The team isn’t properly balanced which is why there are huge gaps appearing in the centre of the park and our midfielders are not able to exert control. Solksjaer’s substitutions worked and were puzzling at the same time, the latter is quite normal. Jadon Sancho was our best-attacking player but he was brought off instead of Mason Greenwood, Dalot lasted the whole 90 minutes while Telles was brought off. Fred made his customary appearance even when the team was chasing a win. The timing of the substitutions was also terrible. With 5 substitutions on hand, he made two in the 70th plus minute mark and another two in the last minutes of the game. However, I must credit the impact the substitutes made. Cavani worked tirelessly chasing down lost causes and if not for his chasing, we will not have scored. Jesse Lingard came on and nearly scored before assisting Ronaldo’s winner. Nemanja Matic shows time and again what a proper defensive midfielder should do, if only we had someone like him but younger. Fred replaced Telles to play as left-back which was an astounding decision but thankfully he delivered a good cross which led to the winning goal.

Like it or not, we are stuck with Solksjaer until the end of the season. It is very unlikely the board will sack him before that. Despite the signings we have made, it looks like we are in for another inconsistent season, unsure of what we will get from week to week. Fred and Scott McTominay would play more often than not in centre midfield. We will rely on individual brilliance to bail us out and on some occasions, we would see some good play. Everything we have seen last season and the season before will be repeated. (I hope I am proven wrong)