Swansea 0-2 Manchester United EFL Cup 4th Round

Swansea 0-2 Manchester United (Lingard 21, 59)

After the disastrous 90 minutes against Huddersfield, Jose Mourinho desperately needed a good nights work to get the season back on track. The Portuguese boss got exactly that, thanks to a virtuoso performance from Jesse Lingard, admittedly helped by a Swansea side who were, ahem, not the most ambitious.

Events on the weekend had made this game vital in the quest for the ‘big M’ of momentum, but it was still the League Cup, and that means a slightly weakened side, with Valencia and De Gea left at home and Lukaku and Matic on the bench. Mata and Mkhitaryan were also dropped rested. Lindelof did indeed play, to some raised eyebrows, but really anything else would damage his confidence. No matter the circumstances, it was pleasing to see two kids get a chance, moreover, Phil Jones made it on to the bench, to puffed out cheeks from relieved United fans fearful of what Spurs would do to us come Saturday lunchtime. Whatever the team, a response was needed to the manager’s comments after Huddersfield regarding the ‘poor attitude’ shown.

When the team was announced, it looked like a 4-3-3 with either Blind or Tuanzebe in midfield, but in fact it was a back 5, with Lingard playing as the number 10 to great effect behind the two forwards. This setup led to United completely bossing the game, having total control of possession. Herrera and Darmian were both positive in the build-up and the Italian was rather adventurous in his right-wing back role.  

Jesse Lingard’s first league start of the season had been poor, but he was keen to make it up to the fans from the first whistle here. He instantly showed that he was up for the challenge when forcing a save from the Swansea keeper within the opening exchanges with a powerful long range shot. The Warrington born lad was constantly playing on the turn, looking to take on opponents, reveling in a role which gave him considerable freedom and pace ahead of him to look for. His first goal saw him receive reward for his proactive movement, with a classic third man run goal. Herrera fired in a strong low pass forward (he doesn’t do this enough, really) to Rashford whose clever flick put Lingard through, and the number 14 opened his body up and unerringly finished into the bottom-right corner. Cue a celebration where he mimicked playing a flute.

Jesse wheeling away after the opener...

Swansea were worse than they were when they were beaten here 4-0 in August, but then again, they had made 8 changes, and their attempt to get back into the game wasn’t helped by Martin Olsson limping off through injury in the first half.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was scrappy, with a decent number of fouls from both teams breaking up play. It was stop-start, but also, a tad dirty and cynical, given the tactical nature of some of these infringements. This passage of play was interrupted by Lingard’s second goal, another great move. Tuanzebe advanced into midfield before inviting Darmian to run down the wing. He sent in a cross and Lingard used the pace on the ball to head in from almost the edge of the area! Yep, a header from around 20 yards that fairly flew into the net. Was it Lingard or Alan Shearer?

... jubilant after putting United 2 up...

As the game entered the final stages, it was getting harder to retain possession as Swansea’s defence pushed up to the halfway line. They duly gave it a go and attacked, but our three Centre-backs were commanding in the air, and Romero made a couple of smart stops late on. This coincided with Mourinho puzzlingly bringing on Matic and Lukaku, but I suppose it makes sense to share out the rest between Herrera and Matic, and well, Lukaku must want to play every game at the moment anyway.

Both McTominay and Tuanzebe did well on their first starts of the season, which was lovely, and 4 academy players starting is good to see. Hopefully this will lead to more chances, I mean, saints alive… even Luke Shaw got some game time! The mostly forgotten, rather chubby defender got a whole THREE minutes for his second outing of the season. His medium term future at Old Trafford looks cloudy to say the least, but at least Mourinho hasn’t completely abandoned him. Given our struggles at left-back, the door must surely be open for him – although, better make sure it’s a double door if Shaw has to get through it.

Overall, it was a resilient display, with many things to enjoy; two fabulous goals from Lingard, the encouraging performances from the young lads, a clean sheet, and hopefully a return to form.

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United (5-3-2) Romero 7; Darmian 7, Lindelof 6, Smalling 7, Tuanzebe 7, Blind 6.5; Herrera 7 (Matic 67, 6), McTominay 7, Lingard 8.5; Rashford 7 (Lukaku 67, 6), Martial 6.5 (Shaw 87).