Huddersfield 0-2 Manchester United (Lukaku 3, 55)
Don’t mention the VAR. United strolled in to the quarters of
the FA Cup by brushing aside Huddersfield thanks to two quality goals from
Romelu Lukaku, although little attention was given to this fact afterwards, as
the media spun themselves into bother over Pogba, Jose, and VAR. Oh My.
Big changes, six of them, were made from the Newcastle loss.
De Gea and Valencia were rested; Jones, Martial and Lingard, dropped. Oh, and
Paul Pogba. There was something wonderfully ironic about United lining up
without Pogba in the squad. Just a day before, Mourinho had used his press
conference to dismiss the suggestions that he had any problems with his star
man as “lies”. Instead, United had three in midfield that did not inspire
confidence, what with Scott McTominay and Michael Carrick being at opposite
ends of the age scale, and Nemanja Matic looking increasingly drawn as the
season goes on. The excuse was that Pogba was ill on the day of the game, and
that did seem plausible given young Ethan Hamilton from the youth team appeared
as one of the subs out of nowhere as a last minute replacement. I’m sure a few
giggles were had about the fact United had finally switched to a midfield trio
and then left out the man it was meant to accommodate. With a trip to Sevilla
on Wednesday, Pogba’s absence left more questions than answers.
As did the awful system of the video assistant referee
(VAR). This might sound like sour grapes, given that it was my team who had a
goal chalked off, especially galling as it was lovely-looking, well-mannered,
charity-founding, sensitive-lover Juan Mata that was kept off the scoresheet.
But just look at the wait, the energy being sucked from the crowd during the
delay, the confusion amongst the players… and for what - the sake of
millimetres? True, Mata’s kneecap was offside. But if it had been allowed to
stand, would there have been any complaint, given how tight the margin was?
Pundits were still claiming it was onside, albeit wrongly, hours after the
event. I think that the thing I dislike most about VAR is it is clearly an
initiative for the fans watching on TV, and not the match attendees, i.e. the
only people that actually matter. The FA and the Premier League must ask
themselves whether an extra ~5% of accuracy on offsides is worth yet another
reduction in the matchday experience for the humble fan. Don’t get me started
on using it for penalties, or red cards – infringements that inherently come
down to an individual ref’s interpretation of the law! There have been infamous
dives or red card decisions that are still debated years later, how can VAR
help there? At least the Huddersfield boss David Wagner agrees with me. “Yes,
the decision went in our favour but this VAR for me kills the emotion of the
game. This is why I don’t like it – but I am not the person who makes the
decision”. Well, in my opinion, VAR belongs in the bin with XG. Kick nerds out
of football.
Anyway… United bounced back quickly from the Newcastle
defeat, and with 2 minutes and 36 seconds on the clock, they were leading,
courtesy of Lukaku. It was a lovely goal, he had held it up in the first place,
before laying off to Mata and running in behind. The Spaniard’s through ball
found our big Belgian, who cut inside onto his right foot before sliding it
past Lossl. It demonstrated all his attributes – the holdup play, the pace, the
power, and the supreme finishing. Terrific centre forward play. The home side
responded, with Tom Ince steering an effort wide on the turn after springing an
awful offside trap. Despite having such an early advantage, United struggled in
the opening 15 minutes, unable to string three passes together, and giving it
away for fun. We were losing the midfield battle, with Matic out of sorts,
McTominay showing a lack of quality and Carrick more tortoise than hare.
At least the United fans were in great voice, using their
big FA Cup allocation to its fullest. ‘It’s Carrick, y’know’ was getting a
hearty airing in celebration at the club captain actually starting a game of
football. Maybe they were trying to distract from the dreck on show in
Yorkshire, with United very defensive, and conceding territory by sitting deep.
We were looking more like a bunch of individuals than a team, with a real lack
of intensity. Still, at least the home side were shite, completely incapable of
punishing us. Their only threat in Mounier was being bested in a few battles in
an entertaining war with Chris Smalling in the air. It was noteworthy that
Smalling was attacking everything, perhaps determined to prove a point after
his shambles of a performance at Newcastle. Matic however had a shocking first
half, not knowing what to do with the ball at his feet, and looking quite weak.
It is to his credit that he emerged after the break improved, finding his feet
and passing confidently.
The VAR incident happened on the stroke of half-time, with
Young making an enterprising run at right-back then slipping the ball inside,
where Mata went round the keeper and tapped in for our second goal. Or so we
thought, for as Mata wheeled away in celebration, the ref signalled he was
listening to his mates watching a screen fucking miles away. Farcically, BT
Sport were fed incorrect images featuring swiggly lines that weren’t parallel
to the 18 yard box to judge an offside. Not a good look at all for VAR,
although that wasn’t how the decision was actually made, thank Christ. The goal
was overturn and the United fans were aghast – but I’ve said my piece on this
incoherent system, we still had a match to win.
Just before the whistle, Matic finished a free-kick but this
goal was disallowed –normally this time! – For a big offside, but it gave
United momentum in the second period. There was an increased aggression, and
United were rewarded with a second goal right out of the top-drawer. From our
own corner, the ball was cleared to Lukaku. He played a superbly timed one-two
with Alexis, before running through and converting nicely. 21 for the season
now for Red Rom, who consistently makes the difference for us against the lower
teams. If he can crack it against the cream of the crop we would have one hell
of a centre-forward on our hands. As for our big January buy and new number
seven, he is clearly taking time to get used to his teammates, but even at his
lowest he can provide these moments of flair.
Mata, Alexis and United in general were purring now, always
on the break, pushing the home team back, looking for a third goal to kill
them. It didn’t come, partly as the last 10 minutes were played out sensibly
rather than explosively, partly as often the final ball was erratic, despite
the real threat posed by Mata’s passing and intelligence. Nevertheless it
didn’t bother those United fans who were in top form. A week after yet another
brace against PSG at the very apex (the CL latter stages) of the game,
Cristiano Ronaldo got serenaded, which warmed my cold heart. ‘Viva Ronaldo’ and
‘He plays on the left’ were sung with gusto, before the traditional ‘Que Sera,
Sera…’ was belted out as United reached the Quarters of the Cup for the fourth
year in succession. And that’s no mean record.
Afterwards Mourinho lavished more praise on McTominay, who
is starting to appear like his personal project. (Or perhaps, one might harshly
argue, an exaggerated sham perpetrated solely to prove that despite his
reputation he can play young players from the academy and does care about the
growth of kids.) He said the new Scottish manager Alex McLeish should come
straight to him to get him tied down to Scotland, internationally. Also, this:
“I think Scott deserves more than what he is getting. Maybe it’s because he’s
this kind of kid profile: a normal haircut, no tattoos, no big cars, no big
watches, humble kid, arrive in the club when he was nine or 10”. No prizes for
guessing who that *may* refer to. Still, how great for the kid to be the
recipient of so much approval. There were kind words for Eric Bailly and his
welcome return as well, coming on in the dying embers of the match for his
first appearance since the loss at Stamford Bridge on the 5th of
November.
There was a neat postscript as to our potential cup
opponents as well. For not only were Tottenham taken to a replay by League Two
Rochdale after a stoppage-time equaliser, but deliciously, the Greatest Team
Ever Seen in English Football were humbled again, 1-0 by Wigan Athletic. Now
that they’re in the third tier, it probably was a far bigger one off result
than the 2013 cup final shock or the following year giant-killing of
Pellegrini’s team at the Ethiad. And old Pep doesn’t take kindly to losing, oh
no. The precious cunt completely lost his head, engaging in a pretty childish
scrap with his Wigan counterpart at half-time after Delph was sent off. At the
final whistle, the Berties decided to throw advertising hoardings at policeman.
Despite their lottery win, they will always be poor little bitter city.
Onwards to Sevilla, and the competition Mourinho previously
defined himself by. After City and Liverpool smashed Basel and Porto
respectively, and Spurs got a very creditable 2-2 at Juventus, the pressure is
on us to perform as well. Time to deliver.
United (4-1-4-1) Romero 7; Young 6.5, Smalling 7.5, Lindelof
6, Shaw 6.5; Carrick 6; Mata 7.5 (Lingard 81), McTominay 6, Matic 6, Sanchez
6.5 (Martial 75, 6); Lukaku 8 (Bailly 90+3).
No comments:
Post a Comment