Manchester United 2-0 Brighton FA Cup 6th Round

Manchester United 2-0 Brighton (Lukaku 37, Matic 83)

 

The fixture after the midweek before. The aftermath of the Sevilla defeat lasted right up until kick-off here, with the manager pre-match press conference an extraordinary example of the fight that Jose Mourinho has always been known for. As United’s season was punctured on Tuesday the boss was already looking for the distraction, an angle of excuses.

It was something, even so. An impassioned 12 minute defence of his record in the Champions League, and a football history lesson of United’s substandard performances post-Ferguson. The Portuguese reeled off United’s league positions, and compared them with City, to show how difficult it was and is for him to bridge the gap. He then listed European results after 2011, bluntly saying “this is football heritage” after every point. It might well be useful to mention Sevilla’s excellent European record, but this weekend they lost to Leganes. The Spanish minnows must have some heritage they’re hiding in their tiny ground, eh Jose?

Not that my rather pithy last sentence detracts from the good feeling I got from watching Mourinho hammer home his point that United are shit and he is desperate to turn us around. Because he was spot on. United have been poor, especially in Europe. That doesn’t explain a loss to Sevilla, a result that will hang over the club for a good few months, but perhaps should help explain why the reaction is not immediately to get rid of Mourinho.

You might’ve forgotten there was also an FA Cup Quarter-Final to win. The game was ugly, with very little to write home about. Thankfully for the manager, two of his most trusted lieutenants – Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic – scored to send us to Wembley.

Lukaku, fast becoming a leader in this team, hit his 25^th of the season from a Matic cross, and then followed numerous Brighton chances against pedestrian passing of the home side. The toothless nature of the South Coast attack, combined with the commanding display of cup keeper Romero meant that United were never really in trouble, but it wasn’t in the slightest the sort of response the faithful would’ve wanted after Sevilla. Only when the second goal was scored did we look comfortable, when Matic nodded in a quality free-kick from Ashley Young.

Young? Ah yes. For the utility man had come on at half time for Luke Shaw, who was yet again publicly slammed by his manager afterwards for a dreadful performance. Shaw hadn’t been great, but I certainly wouldn’t have hooked him at half-time. The England left-back is definitely too fond of a pizza or three but has it actually had an impact on his football? Is Shaw being bullied by a bitter coach? Shaw’s United career seems at an end, whatever the real truth.

Pogba and for the first time Sanchez were left on the bench, but it barely got a mention afterwards as post-match quotes again took centre stage. It wasn’t just Shaw, almost every player received criticism, and some might say it was just deserts for underperforming players.  Mourinho questioned whether we were scared to play, although Matic was described as “an island of personality” in terms of his mentality compared to some others.

There was encouragement in the stands at least for a singing section experiment that was a big success. The traditional area of the away fans was instead populated by some of the most boisterous members of the Red Army, with the Brighton fans shoved into Tier 2 of the East Stand. The result was a massive boost to the atmosphere inside Old Trafford, as the acoustics in that part of the ground where the East and South stands meet are so much better and conducive for signing than other areas. Unlike the current signing section, no one was forced out of an area of the ground. The club, J Stand operatives and hardworking Reds deserve immense credit for bringing together so many like-minded vocal United fans at such short notice. Now it’s up to the club to make it permanent.

Seldom has the international break come at a better time for the Reds. An opportunity to rest, take stock, and regroup ahead of the run-in. Another cup semi at Wembley to look forward to. It isn’t all doom and gloom.

United (4-2-3-1) Romero 7.5; Valencia 7, Bailly 5.5, Smalling 6, Shaw 5 (Young 46, 7); McTominay 6.5, Matic 8; Mata 6 (Rashford 75, 5), Lingard 5.5 (Fellaini 89), Martial 5.5; Lukaku 7.5.

Crystal Palace 2-3 Manchester United Monday 5th March

Crystal Palace 2-3 Manchester United (Townsend 11, Van Aanholt 48) (Smalling 55, Lukaku 76, Matic 90+1)

"I have never been involved in a comeback like that before , I used to watch them on TV" - Marcus Rashford on Twitter, the morning after the night before.

Football, eh? Bloody Hell. What a game, what a shitshow, what a stunning comeback, what a winning goal from Nemanja Matic. A rollercoaster of emotions, and at the very end, an outpouring of joy, and regaining our place in 2^nd ahead of the game against Liverpool next week.

It really shouldn’t be this hard, after all the investment. How can United swing so violently in competence from game to game? After Chelsea, everything felt positive. And yet, United spent most of Monday evening frantically trying to avoid disaster. The wonderful resilience shown by the players was heartening, but does not erase how woeful we were in the opening 70 minutes. Our best players were dogshit, but we had managed to win… why do we wait until we concede before trying hard to score?

Only one change was made from Chelsea, with hero from last week Jesse Lingard coming in for Martial, who didn’t travel due to a minor injury. Herrera, Fellaini, Rojo, Jones and Blind were still out. McTominay started again.

Those United fans were in quality form all evening, coming across loud and clear on Sky serenading Eric Cantona, much to the anger of the Selhurst Ultras. Although there was nothing to shout about in a shambolic first period which counts among the very worst since Mourinho took the job.

It is difficult to know where to start. The attitude was unrecognisable from the Chelsea game. The whole team were second to every loose ball, unconvincing in the tackle, way too relaxed in possession. With both wide players floating inside, there was no width. We were playing too deep, with no movement up top, a recipe for stodgy disaster. Simple long balls from Palace were causing us problems, and at the other end there were no platforms for attack, with slow passes not stretching a makeshift Palace back four, or testing the dodgy Wayne Hennessey.

We were behind soon enough, losing the ball easily to allow Christian Benteke to set up Andros Townsend to score from a deflection off Lindelof, who turned his back. It was deserved, and there was little reaction from United. Instead Palace went close to doubling their lead a few times before the half-time whistle with Benteke and Sorloth proving a real handful in the air.

Roy Hodgson – whose England work was always appreciated by me – had made his Palace team tough to beat and had improved them no end since their shocking start but he was left with one hand tied behind his back here with so many first teamers out injured. His star man Wilfried Zaha was the headline but there were numerous others who were unavailable: Dann, Sakho, Sako, Puncheon, Cabaye, Speroni, Ward, the United loanee Fosu-Mensah, Loftus-Cheek and long-term crock Wickham. Yet their organisation remained, set up in two banks of four to deny space and push the defensive line of the visitors back.

Sanchez was a disgrace in that first half, unable to do anything right. Continually he moved infield into traffic, hit heavy passes straight out of play, and mis-controlled passes, his touch deserting him. Not that he was alone. Valencia was static off the ball, afraid to do anything unsafe. McTominay barely touched the ball, and I would hazard a guess that the young lad was hiding on the toughest evening of his career so far. Pogba was the opposite, coming way too deep to start attacks, and unprepared and lackadaisical when he had possession. Matic looked weak and tired in the midfield. Young was just terrible. The 4-3-3 basically meant more players doing fuck all and one less game changer than usual.

 

Red Rom loves it.

Mourinho reacted to a pathetic first half by hauling off McTominay for Rashford, switching to 4-2-3-1. The young flier made an impact instantly testing the pace of the Palace defenders, wanting to isolate himself 1 on 1 with his markers. Pogba and Matic were finding him a lot in the opening moments of the second half, but no telling chance was created. That was mainly down to rookie Palace right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who was my man of the match for his never-say-die attitude and his desire to put tackles and blocks in.

The best laid plans were in tatters as Palace scored another, and it was amateur hour again as we switched off from a free-kick that was quickly taken by Schlupp, playing the speedy Van Aanholt through. No one was going to catch him, and he lashed it past De Gea to send Selhurst Park into dreamland. The last time we had come back from 2-0 to win a league game was in December 2013 against Hull.

Two down, staring at the abyss, United finally punched back. A corner was cleared and from the resulting opportunity, Valencia carefully measured a cross from a central position onto Smalling’s head, with Tomkins suffering a brainfade by keeping him onside. Game on.

United took control of the game, helped by taking off Valencia and Young, who were both utterly hopeless, and bringing on Luke Shaw and Juan Mata, with Lingard pushed to right-back in an attacking move. It made sense, and Lingard had played at full-back against Bournemouth last season. As for Shaw, it was pleasing to see him enter the pitch in our hour of need, what with his form over Christmas and Young’s recent ineptitude. But he was definitely carrying a bit of timber. Or maybe he had about 4 layers on? It was a cold evening in South London, to be fair…

The next period of the game would’ve been enormously enjoyable for the neutral, although it was torturous for me. The game was completely stretched, with both teams frantic and full of panic. United were forcing things too quickly, rushing through moves and playing over ambitious passes. Palace dropped way too deep, terrified of the onslaught they knew were coming.

Without sounding like a know-it-all, in hindsight Palace had given so much already, and were so weakened by the absences, that them crumbling was inevitable. Constant defensive mistakes were made allowing United in, saved only by luck or last ditch tackles – like when Benteke of all people cleared off the line from Matic after a corner with the keeper beaten. Not that I could view the game with such clarity when it was going on, mind.

Mata was making a difference as he often does when United are having a bad game, his speed of thought, happy knack for finding gaps and calm demeanour was beginning to take effect and calm his teammates down. He always provided options, making himself available. Lingard at RB was a revelation; dribbling at the defence, pinning them back, allowing Mata ahead of him more space to come inside. Lukaku was winning more in the air, and deservedly put us on terms when reacting fastest to a Sanchez shot that had ricochet onto the bar after the best bit of interplay around the box all game had created the opening. He controlled and pretended to shoot about 4 times, having a clear picture in his head, allowing the defenders to crowd the keeper and block his vision. You don’t score as many as him without having composure in front of goal and the Belgian eventually stroked it home, leading the team in big celebration. We were now favourites.

But we needed Ge Dea, as per, to save us with an athletic save from a Benteke header that was improbable enough for the Belgian striker and one time Lukaku rival to already be off in celebration. Spanish Dave is just magnificent, and there is no more anyone can say. Really he deserves cunts in front of him who are actually capable of sticking with their markers.

However, despite all the trying, it looked like we had run out of time, with Palace squeezing every last drop of energy from all of their players, lactic acid burning in their arms as they blocked shot after shot and rose again and again to head crosses away. But in the 91^st minute after the umpteenth ball was blocked, the ball at up nicely for Matic about 30 yards from goal. The crowd, his teammates and yours truly were yelling at him to pass out wide but instead he unleashed an incredibly sweet half-volley into the top corner, sending the fans completely barmy in the process.



Auto-Matic!





What a fucking moment, what a comeback, what a way to score your first United goal. He can strike a ball (like vs Everton in 15/16, and in the Cup semi vs Spurs last April) but his shots for United have largely been erratic. For such a high-quality goal to be scored in those circumstances by Matic was simply orgasmic. He led a mass of United bodies who ran to the away end, celebrating intensely with the faithful. Magic from Matic. Scenes mate. Scenes.



The Reds regrouped to see off any Palace pressure and the final whistle came and the ground emptied remarkably quickly with the home team feeling sick after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Forgetting the wretched performance for a moment, that’s what football is all about, last minute winners from behind away from home. Great stuff. But now, onto the troubling post-mortem…

Sanchez was shocking throughout, but it must be said, as bad as he played, he never once gave up, always on the move, playing pretty much central midfield late on to try and get on the ball and create. Although, our big signing promptly fucked it up almost every time. Still, having a player who takes risks and keeps plugging away, keeps trying that chip through ball to the far post will surely be a good thing over time, but Jesus, it wouldn’t kill him to recycle it now and then. He simply must improve, get less wasteful and start justifying his enormous pay-packet soon, because United have looked muddled since he arrived. Everyone deserves a bedding-in period, but the crunch games are coming thick and fast and if he isn’t gelling with the rest of the team he should be starting games amongst the substitutes. Although like Pogba, he possesses the ability to come up with something special no matter how badly he’s playing.

Valencia and Young were both embarrassing, and that is not being unkind. They looked nervous and unconvincing in defence, and were insipid in attack. Remember these are wingers, of some repute, by trade. So you can forgive some defensive lapses – but how can they not provide something that causes a second string Palace team a problem? When you start with Lingard and Sanchez as the wingers, you know the full-backs must provide the width, and that might’ve been a mistake by the manager. Instead Valencia was barely over the halfway-line, and Young simply passed back to the receiver whenever he got it. Sure, they’re on the other side of their peaks, but there is little excuse for such a poor performance.

Of course, it needs to be said that the skipper Valencia has generally been very good for the last three years, against better judgement. He should be allowed off days, even if they are shockers (You knew he was bad when Jose took him off – he is usually one of his most trusted lieutenants). But clubs that we are competing against for honours probably wouldn’t tolerate a well past his best former winger at right-back. His obvious weaknesses don’t stack up well at all against Europe’s best. Given the importance of them in today’s game, perhaps Right-back is an area to strengthen in the summer. (I still love you Tony V, obvs.)

A left-back could be signed as well, although I would rather just give Luke Shaw a good run. The fact that the, ahem, heavy looking lad came on at all tells you everything about how bad Young was, especially when you consider Shaw has never been a favourite of Mourinho. Young has played above himself for long periods this season, even forcing himself back into the England squad, and he deserves kudos for that. But don’t get it twisted, he is nowhere near United standard in any position he plays. Consistently Young has been exposed positionally. He’s a survivor – I would’ve sold him in the summer of 2014. He’s a good character, big in the dressing room, a top guy and by all accounts a really good professional. But he’s just a bit shit, and the odd teasing cross won’t convince me otherwise.

Having said all of that though, it was a mighty fine comeback, demonstrating our spirit, and despite there being lots to dislike, the subs helped change the game and keep us on track. Mourinho made the right changes at the right time, and the lads turned it around. Well done, now try and not lose to Liverpool on Saturday.

United (4-3-3) De Gea 8; Valencia 3 (Mata 67, 7.5), Smalling 7, Lindelof 5.5, Young 3.5 (Shaw 67, 6); McTominay 5 (Rashford 46, 6.5), Matic 7, Pogba 6; Lingard 7, Lukaku 7.5, Sanchez 5.

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea Sunday 25th Feb 2018

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (Lukaku 39, Lingard 75) (Willian 32)

 

 
Yerrrrrrs. A massive, massive result, against a fellow top 6 rival, coming from behind, and a feather in Mourinho’s cap in his spat with Antonio Conte. It wasn’t a vintage 90 minutes, with a general lack of quality and pace on show on a surprisingly hot and sunny day in Manchester. Both teams looked tired after having played in the Champions League midweek, but thanks to Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard, United went home happier.

After Herrera’s injury in Spain, Pogba obviously started, but it was the continuing selection of academy man Scott McTominay that was the talking point. The manager had obviously decided 4-3-3 was necessary. It looked like, given Fellaini’s injuries and Carrick’s lack of legs, our strongest team to contain Chelsea. Jones, Rojo and Blind were still out. Martial came in for Mata to play on the left, with Sanchez finally stationed on the right.

What of the Champions? Things are still going well for them in the Champions League - with a creditable 1-1 draw against Barcelona – and the FA Cup, but all is not well at the Bridge, especially behind the scenes where a battle for transfer supremacy is ongoing. Their season has generally been ok bar the odd hiccup, and they remain a quality team directed by a top passionate coach with an enviable CV. It looked even more impressive once the little skulduggery that once blighted it had been wiped out thanks to ‘rigorous’ investigation when Italian national boss. Ahem.

Events started with a bang with Morata (who many United fans would’ve preferred in the summer over Lukaku) hitting the woodwork almost straight away from a wicked Marcos Alonso cross. United did look strong out there though, the team looking fired up for the challenge. By contrast, the crowd was crap, disappointingly. You could only hear the away fans, strange really, it should’ve been a cauldron for this especially given Mourinho and Conte’s recent war of words.

Initially, Anthony Martial was our out ball, mainly from the left half-space from Pogba passes. A couple of times he was allowed a run at Chelsea’s centre-backs with Moses nowhere after we had won back possession. From one of these breaks Alexis Sanchez had a golden chance, but after controlling in the box at pace, he could only tap the ball towards the keeper with his right peg, when he probably should’ve hit it with his left.

Lingard and Pogba celebrate the number 14's goal

 

There was a pattern though – Matic wins it, United work it to Pogba in his favourite area in the left-centre, and he either drove us up the pitch by himself or spread it wide to Martial. It was such a joy to see our best player in his best position, able to link up with Martial. The winger unfortunately drifted out of the game, but it wasn’t for lack of touches, with Pogba constantly in the position to give it to him.

Chelsea’s attacks were led by Willian, in great form recently. Together with partner in crime Eden Hazard, he was a constant threat on the break with his direct vertical running, so explosive in transition. With Fabregas left on the bench, Chelsea did not build-up play particularly well, with the workmanlike midfield of Drinkwater and Kante instead looking to hit long for Morata who was not holding the ball up with any certainty. Thus, almost by default it was on the break where they were getting joy.

Chelsea were the better side in the first half, and they got their reward in a flowing counter from a United corner, beating a poorly executed offside trap. It was taken fucking short, despite the height we had in the box, given away, and Willian came away with the ball. He exchanged passes with Hazard, streaking away from McTominay, and hammered it past De Gea, despite his shot being pretty close to our keeper. He would kick himself, but It was the sort of shot one might complain about in the park for being too hard, to be fair to De Gea.

So, we were losing at home to a rival and the crowd was threatening to turn. Thankfully for us, Lukaku rose to the occasion to draw us level, finishing off an intricate move. Red Rom hadn’t scored against any of the top six this season, so this was overdue in a way, but that seems harsh. Instead we should celebrate the striker ending his dry spell against the elite, this despite him initially losing the ball due to an errant first touch. But Matic drove a low pass at Alexis, who turned instantly before laying the ball into Martial in the box, who we know has outstanding close control and touch in positions like that – seen in Lingard’s first goal against Arsenal earlier on in the season. The winger moved it on to Lukaku, whose first touch with his right foot took the ball away from Alonso’s challenge, allowing him to pass it into the corner with his left to make it 22 in all competitions. Brilliant.

The half ended with us on top, flying into tackles and Matic and Pogba thoroughly dominant, dribbling through the middle. Hazard had not had the ball as much as he is used to, thanks mainly to McTominay being instructed to stand on his toes and follow him round. It wasn’t an obvious job, like Herrera did in this fixture last year, but it was noticeable how many times it was the 6”4 Lancastrian who engaged first with Hazard, no matter where he received the ball.

The second half was all United as we put in an unbelievable demonstration of control, battling hard, winning the ball quickly, and setting our attackers away. The improvement was frightening, and we completely deserved the eventual win.

The towering Matic put in his best performance for ages, determined to show his former club what they were missing. With Pogba, carrying the ball at will, he bossed the midfield completely. While seeing him three times ghost past ‘world class’ Kante like a competitive dad versus his 3 year old son was hilarious, it was the moments when Pogba did not have to beat a man that was noticeable. Chelsea had failed to track Pogba’s runs, and were now often forced to hack clear the Frenchman’s attempted final balls. 3 in midfield suits us better, allowing Matic to go through games without blowing hard and freeing up Pogba to create.

Panna!

 

We can’t ignore Pogba treating Kante like his bitch every time they got 1 on 1 though. To think that our number 6 is often compared to that glorified marathon runner… he seemed determined to show who was boss. With a neat stepover he slipped past the Chelsea man, who promptly hacked him down for a yellow card, unable to compete with Pogba. He also got nutmegged in the second half, from a flick pass on the edge of the box. In direct opposition, there was no contest.

Lukaku was giving everything, his hold up play exemplary, his pace and power unreal. He was man of the match, completely answering his critics (like me) that he never does it against the big clubs. He was making the ball stick, laying the ball off to his colleagues, and never giving Chelsea’s three centre-backs a moment rest.

Sanchez hadn’t been amazing, often losing the ball for us by attempting a high-risk pass or dribble. But the genius was still on show, with a world class dig out cross from nothing for Lukaku to go close with a scissor kick. Courtois tipped it over, but United had the wind behind them.

Lingard was sent on and immediately energised things with his movement. United pushed further forward, seeking the winner, but this led to gaps for Chelsea. A 30 yarder from Drinkwater was parried away by De Gea poorly, and then he almost spilled a fairly simple and mild Willian free-kick over his own goal-line. A rare human performance for De Gea then, spilling everything, but in his defence the sun was in his eyes all second half and he was constantly putting his arm over his forehead to try and catch the flight of balls in the air. Why was some lackey not sent to his goal to chuck him a cap?

United went in front with a terrific goal. McTominay floated the ball forward, expertly spotting Lukaku’s run to the right hand side. He used his strength to hold off a challenge before a neat bit of footwork saw him make room for a delicious pin point cross onto the head of Lingard, who converted deftly. His late run had completely surprised Christensen. Another Lionel Jesse header! What a moment for the sub, and what a season he’s having. 2-1, and the Stretford End found its voice, expressing their gratitude to the Warrington Wizard. The atmosphere soon turned nervous again though, as almost straight from the kick off Willian ran on to a through ball and tried to catch De Gea out at his near post, but he denied him safely this time.

 

Conte didn’t waste time once Lingard’s 13^th goal in all competitions hit the net. He took off Moses for Giroud and went two up front, and long ball, keen to see if having two tall strikers on the field could create some knock downs for his side. A few minutes later, Fabregas was on as well to supply the ammunition.

In response to Conte’s changes, Mourinho went ultra-defensive and brought on Bailly for Sanchez, switching to 5-3-1-1. It made sense, but it led to an obvious change in the momentum, with Chelsea now taking control of the ball. Thankfully for us, Fabregas had been brought on far too late. By the time he’d got into the flow of the game, pinging passes around, United had adjusted to our new formation and were looking solid as a rock. The defence, and our gaffer, deserve credit for holding out against the Blues and their last ditch attacks on our goal. 

One more chance for United transpired when Lukaku picked up a loose ball inside his own half after United had hacked clear. He turned and accelerated, pushing the ball miles clear of him, leaving Chelsea defenders in his wake with his turn of speed and sudden burst. Up against the whole defence on his own, he got a shot off, blocked and out for an attacking throw-in, a perfect way to let the seconds tick by. It was the side of Lukaku we had rarely seen – picking up from deep and driving forward – given he’s usually wanting the ball in behind and is unwilling to get involved in the action too far away from goal. But perhaps the incredible run was a sign of things to come, that he can do his own heavy lifting at times.

At the other end, United were very lucky that Morata was flagged offside wrongly when hitting the back of the net to steal an equaliser. Mind, the United backline had stopped when the flag came up, so we will never know if Morata had got the space to score if the linesman never made the incorrect decision. Some fine timewasting at the end, particularly from Pogba and Lukaku, helped reduce Chelsea’s opportunities to launch it to their twin target men. One final chance came when a corner was conceded, but despite Courtois being up, the delivery was poor and Lingard duly smashed clear to the wonderful tone of the final whistle. Yes!



Judging by this pic, Sanchez has seemingly forgotten how terrifying celebrating a goal can be

If we play like we did in the second half every week, we would be right up there with City. Dynamic, energetic, clever runs and individual flair all combined in a greatest hits album. Lukaku, the title track in this already tortured metaphor, can be over the moon with his best game yet for United. Sure he scored one and made the other, but it was his all-round game, in a crucial match against one of the best defences, that really registered in my mind.

Martial was poor, and it has to be said that sometimes it is galling that Lingard outperforms him, someone with a third of his ability. It was frustrating seeing how little the ex-Monaco man moved off the ball – always wanting it to feet, rather than run in behind. The contrast with Lingard was stark; everything sped up when he came on, making an impact off the bench that is customary these days. He does seem to lift the team considerably on occasions. Of course, Lingard’s deficiencies in talent lead to some indifferent displays, like at Newcastle or against Spurs at Wembley. But he has, against the odds, made himself a cornerstone of the squad.

Some of the criticisms of Martial are ridiculous – for instance, the allegation that he doesn’t smile enough, and thus doesn’t want to be here and is miserable – but it has to be said his body language doesn’t give off a great vibe. When he was hooked, he fucking strolled off, at 1-1, when we had the momentum… it wasn’t a good look. (It was the type of petulant shit that Nani got hammered for. No danger of that given our cringe fanbase led by ‘Martial FC’ weirdos on twitter). This maybe is nit-picking, given that with the exception of decision making, Martial is among the best in the world for his age and seemingly only mental barriers will prevent him becoming world class. Even here, his lightning quick feet gave him an assist for the first goal. But still, it wouldn’t kill the lad to look a bit more motivated. Not that Jose will care too much about any of this – Lingard’s winner made it 10 league goals off the bench for us this season, a league high, and evidence that more often than not, the manager gets his subs spot-on.

McTominay was a huge positive. He didn’t quite put Hazard in his pocket like some suggested (I mean the Belgian carved us open for their goal) but it was a very good man-marking job against such a skilful player. The young lad responded really well after not tracking Willlian for that goal to put in a mature performance. Sure, his passing lacks a bit of variety, but he was composed, and United looked a better side with him in it. The kid showed considerable nerve to play in such a big game so early in his career. The fact that Chelsea’s star man was taken off with the result on the line said everything as to how intelligent and diligent McTominay had been in carrying out the task set by Mourinho. He’d seen off Hazard!

It should be said out loud – 1-0 down, being outplayed, we managed to turn it around, take control, and grab the points. When did that last happen? We certainly don’t win many from a goal down, but the second half performance, and the very best of Lukaku, demanded the spoils. What a victory.

United (4-3-3) De Gea 5.5; Valencia 7, Smalling 6.5, Lindelof 7, Young 6; McTominay 7.5, Matic 8.5, Pogba 8.5; Sanchez 6.5 (Bailly 81, 6), Lukaku 9, Martial 5.5 (Lingard 64, 7.5).

Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 6.5, Christensen 6.5, Rudiger 6; Moses 5.5 (Giroud 78, 6), Drinkwater 6 (Fabregas 81, 6), Kante 6, Alonso 7; Willian 7.5, Hazard 6.5 (Pedro 73, 6); Morata 5.5.

Look at the passion from Lukaku against his old club. YANITED

Huddersfield 0-2 Manchester United FA Cup 5th Round

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 5^th 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).

Spurs 2-0 Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United (Eriksen 1, Jones 28 og)

 

For the third successive home league game in a row, Spurs took home the three points against Manchester United. Whether it’s White Hart Lane or Wembley, Spurs seem to be able to raise their game against the Red Devils at home – not since September 1966 had such a run been completed. In what was a record attendance for a Premier League game of over 81,000, Spurs completely dominated the proceedings and an anaemic United went home with their tails between their legs.

Spurs are the real deal these days, of course, and a loss to them is no disgrace, but the manner on this midweek night was deeply troubling. United had gone from a resolute backline that had kept six clean sheets in a row to conceding after just 11 seconds, one of the quickest goals of the Premier League era.

Straight from kick-off Spurs launched it forward, Kane and Alli won the duels in the air, and Eriksen reacted to the loose ball first and swept home beautifully. I hadn’t even got to the pub yet. By the looks of things, a quarter of the stadium hadn’t taken their seats either.

Spurs paraded their only significant January signing at half time, with Lucas Moura keeping to the cliché of holding up the scarf and doing a few keepie-uppies. On this evidence, the Brazil winger will find it difficult to muscle in on Spurs’ intelligent and talented front four. Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen are all well established as some of the best players in the league, but Son has often been forgotten about, although that is starting to change now. All four caused United all sorts of problems, with Alli and Eriksen in particular fiendishly difficult to shut down.  

Spurs were playing with an absurdly high line, this observer was astonished at their bravery, especially with United boasting the pace of Martial and Alexis Sanchez, making his league debut. While that is how Poch likes to play, it did seem to be a huge risk, although it paid off handsomely, with the centre-backs spreading play out wide at will. With the defenders happy to engage in battles on the halfway line, Moussa Dembele was liberated from having to fight, instead able to demonstrate his delicate touches and calm carrying of the ball.

The opening exchanges were ridiculously attacking for a game between two of the top six. The home side were passing at a high tempo and Trippier was finding himself in acres of space in behind Ashley Young. Spurs were always happy to put in crosses from any angle, forcing United to face their own goal at every opportunity. They were so intense, and fluid, their frontline showing off their proactive movement. By contrast, United were apathetic and stunted, unable to get a foothold in the game.  

Spurs have a propensity to shit themselves in big matches, but the early goal banished the nerves and gave all 11 players confidence to try things, to take risks, and pin United back. Pochettino was clearly targeting our left flank - Trippier, Eriksen and Alli were all taking turns to run at an all-at-sea Ashley Young. Mind, the converted winger wasn’t helped by his winger Sanchez, who didn’t exactly show full commitment to getting back and helping his teammate. As an aside, what was Mourinho thinking taking the in-form Martial out of his best position –left wing- to accommodate Sanchez? Martial had been our best player recently, it made no sense that our new player didn’t operate on the right instead of the Frenchman. Especially when Sanchez has plenty of experience on the right anyway.  

Spurs’ aggressive high press was creating countless turnovers of possession, as United were careless when hurried on the ball. It didn’t help that our two central defenders were Smalling and Jones, none of whom are Rio Ferdinand on the ball. While Rojo is an inferior defender to Smalling, his comfort with the ball at his feet would’ve been useful against the high press from Spurs.

They went close a number of times, with De Gea on form. Jones seemed to be keeping us in it, with a couple of excellent tackles to deny Kane and Alli, but then compounded the misery by side-footing a dangerous low cross from Trippier into his own net. A top finish, it was a shame he just couldn’t sort his feet out.

United, far from responding positively, were seemingly begging for half-time for some respite from slick Spurs moves. In the final third, Spurs were always making the right decision to open up the United defence. And yet, it could’ve been 2-1, with Pogba losing all semblance of technique when prodding over from almost the goal-line after a set-piece. That would’ve papered over the cracks – United were as open as mid-2000s Lindsey Lohan. The most frustrating thing of all was how much United were giving the ball away. There were simple passes sent straight out of play due to carelessness or lack of communication.

When we were under the cosh immediately after the second goal, Lingard should’ve been pushed back to make 3 in midfield to try and stem the flow of Eriksen and Alli. Instead, United tried to attack, only succeeding in leaving the midfield isolated. It didn’t help that Nemanja Matic was having a shocker. He gave the ball away almost every time he had it, was losing duels with players half his size and strength, looked exhausted after 35 minutes, and was unable to track the runs of Eriksen, Alli and Son. When Dembele coasted past him on his way to creating another chance, Matic lamely fell to the floor. He lasted the full 90, when he really should’ve been subbed at half-time. He wasn’t alone though, Young and Smalling were also looking out of their depth out there.

You beat the high press by going long, but United didn’t, happy instead to try high risk passes across our own goal in an attempt the keep the ball. It was admirable, but stupid, with the high defensive line begging for some long passes. A lot of our problems were self-inflicted, it should be said. Spurs often didn’t need great skill or guile to initiate attacks, often just waiting for our thick players to lose balls in dangerous positions via ambitious passes. It was Spurs who were enjoying themselves, with the quick thrust employed whenever they won the ball. Alli and Eriksen were finding so much space in between our rigid lines.

The only real chance United made from open play all night happened early in the 2^nd half, when Pogba clipped a ball in behind Davison Sanchez and Lukaku ran on to it and got a strong shot off, but Lloris tipped it round the post. A few minutes later, Pogba was hooked, with much attention paid afterwards to a clip of Mourinho berating Pogba for his lack of discipline. While I wouldn’t have taken the Frenchman off, in the vain hope that he could create something special, he was a pile of wank out there. We all have off days, but there is no excuse for ignoring the manager’s instructions to sit tight in a two with Matic, and that is seemingly what he did. Pogba was often found level on the pitch with our wingers while Matic was left alone again in the middle, and was a key reason as to why we were always under pressure. The pundits peddled the bullshit afterwards that Pogba can’t play in a midfield two, he’s erratic off-the-ball, he can’t track runs from a clever no.10… all complete nonsense. Pogba proved at Euro 2016 he can be disciplined, defensive, and composed, restraining his natural game for the good of the team. He just had a dreadful night, perhaps believing United needed him further forward. He deserves criticism for that, but let’s not go overboard.

The second half didn’t get any less embarrassing, with Alli nutmegging Jones, Matic looking like he’d been in a marathon, Smalling mis-kicking galore and the farce that was the Fellaini substitution. Sent on presumably to aid in the long ball tactics to help beat the press, he was off down the Wembley tunnel within seven minutes due to injury, meaning Herrera had to come in and play in midfield. Marcus Rashford was stripped, receiving his final commands before coming on when it became clear that Fellaini couldn’t continue, and so the kid sat back down and the last chance of a comeback probably disappeared then and there. Fellaini’s season has been plagued by injury, and with his contract up at the end of the season, you mind begins to wonder what his future holds, even though the manager remains his biggest fan.

There was no silver lining as Sanchez was the only one pressing, probably thinking how his new team - a Mourinho team - could be so poor at the back. Martial, eventually switched to the left, didn’t beat his man all night. Lukaku worked hard, to his credit, but yet another big game came and went with him making little impact. Perhaps in these games, 3 in midfield is a must.

The sensational Alli was purring in the second half, showing off his full repertoire. An outside-of-the-foot ball to Kane, an outrageous back-heel to play in Davies on the left, snapshots from anywhere. It was a tremendous return to form for young star, a good response to his critics. Kane, searching for his 100^th Premier League goal, had an odd night for him – he didn’t score. So rare is that these days that Mourinho should maybe buy himself a scratch card or two. It wasn’t as if the England captain-elect didn’t have enough opportunities, but the efforts of De Gea and a couple of mistakes meant he went home goalless, thankfully for the Reds.

Not that Spurs really needed him to be at his best, for Eriksen was majestic. The Dane was impossible to mark, always able to find space in the crowed midfield. His nominal position was right midfield, but in fact he popped up everywhere, and his elusive dribbling style made Matic look stupid all night. In the inside-right channel, he was able to slip Kane in, poke balls out to Trippier, (always stationed high up the pitch) or go for goal himself. Like all Spurs attacking players, he was a tad wasteful, often looking for the extra pass when you expected the net to bulge, or a slight mis-control when United’s defenders were nowhere. This feels like straw-clutching though, for these little moments didn’t distract from the overall feeling that he was controlling the game. He hit the post from 25 yards, he breezed past red shirts, and always played with his head up.

For the away team, the inquest started straight away. We have to be honest and say that it should’ve been 4-0, at least. The contrast from so many solid displays to the haphazard defending at Wembley was confusing, even if Spurs and the vibrant interplay they demonstrated was obviously a factor. I still have no idea why we were charging round the pitch without figuring out against Spurs you have to sit deep for a bit. Still, as bad as the game was, Chelsea slipping to a 3-0 reverse at home to Bournemouth meant that the damage doesn’t have to be terminal, if we get back on track quickly. We were shit, it happens, let’s regroup.
United (4-2-3-1) De Gea 8; Valencia 5.5, Smalling 3.5, Jones 5, Young 4; Pogba 4.5 (Mata 63, 5), Matic 3.5; Martial 4.5, Lingard 6 (Fellaini 63 [Herrera 70, 5]), Sanchez 5; Lukaku 5.5.

Spurs (4-2-3-1) Lloris 7; Trippier 8, Sanchez 6.5, Vertonghen 7.5, Davies 7; Dier 7, Dembele 8 (Wanyama 90+1); Eriksen 9, Alli 8.5 (Sissoko 88), Son 7 (Lamela 80); Kane 7.5.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Morata 55)

 

I say it every year, but an away match at Chelsea is a special kind of sporting torture. More often than not it involves scoring few goals and conceding many, and get this, you have to pay one of the richest men in the world thirty odd quid to watch it happen. Our terrible record at Stamford Bridge barely needs mentioning (the loss here made it one win in the last sixteen league games) but the fixture has taken on a bigger significance ever since Jose Mourinho, Chelsea’s greatest ever manager, took up his office at Carrington.

Last year’s games here were a 4-0 tonking and a 1-0 Cup quarter final loss after Ander Herrera had been sent off. Undeterred, Mourinho ordered Herrera to perform man-marking duties on Eden Hazard again, and the Spaniard carried out the job to perfection at Old Trafford as United, in one of the best results of last season, came away with a 2-0 win. It was highly unlikely such tactics would be utilised again this time around with Herrera needed in the middle of the park as one of only two fully-fit senior midfielders. Fellaini was back unexpectedly, but was only fit enough for the bench. So, the United boss kept faith with the same XI that had beaten Spurs a week ago, maintaining the three/five at the back. It made sense, not only to match up with Chelsea’s formation, but also because, hey, we beat Spurs. As the boss said in his pre-match presser "Tottenham beat Liverpool 4-1, Real Madrid 3-1, but didn't score against us. My players deserve a little bit of credit”.

The main omission was obviously Anthony Martial. In his stubborn refusal to play Martial, Rashford and Lukaku together, Mourinho hurts the team and restricts our attacking potential. Mkhitaryan is a lovely footballer but he is dreadfully out of form, and had no business starting a game of this magnitude. Mata was never going to start at his former club given his propensity to disappear in away games, and his own patchy form, but his omission from the squad was a surprise. Matic though, was going to be one our key men at his old stomping ground.

Chelsea had come into this late Sunday encounter in slight disarray, after being swept aside 3-0 by an impressive Roma team in midweek. The defence, which Antonio Conte holds so dear, was schoolboy like, and the pundits afterwards focused on the sale of Matic as a key factor for their loss of midfield protection. Conte took action, dropping David Luiz from the squad and instead placing his faith in Andreas Christensen. N’Golo Kante returned after injury to form three in the engine room. As always with the Blues, whispers of dressing room unhappiness and the Russian tycoon’s itchy trigger finger were never far away.  Chelsea needed to respond.

After Liverpool and Spurs, everyone expected us to park the bus, but in fact United started positively, pressing high up the pitch and doing our best to get Rashford and Lukaku away running against their defenders. This wasn’t a surprise. With City beating Arsenal 3-1 earlier, they were now 8 points ahead. Dragging them back to 7 wouldn’t make a great difference – it was time to win, and banish those bad memories of pathetic away days at the top 6. The game was explosive for a top-of-the-table clash, with the first incident packed twenty minutes flying by.

Phil Jones scored an own-goal volley worthy of any bloopers DVD presented by Danny Baker, but the ref thought that Alvaro Morata had pushed him and the strike was chalked off. Less than a minute later, Rashford had a free header from close range to put us ahead, but he closed his eyes at the point of impact from Young’s cross and it looped over. Had he headed it downward, it probably would’ve beaten Courtois.

Chelsea responded immediately. United’s pressing had one big flaw; the coolness of Cesc Fabregas under pressure. The stylish Spanish schemer was never rushed and always seemed to have an extra second to try and create, and he was so successful at playing around United that his midfield partner Bakayoko, a summer signing from Monaco who had been quite disappointing so far this season, was able to make several piercing runs into the box. He tamely sliced wide when in a great position after a top centre from Zappacosta, and throughout the entire match was able to exploit the hole and take up great positions behind Herrera and Matic. Without Pogba or even Carrick (clutching at straws here) to put his foot on it, Chelsea seized the initiative.

Hazard forced De Gea into an untidy save when striking from the D, and from the rebound Fabregas headed wide. Chelsea’s system was now purring, and Morata was pulling our three centre-backs all over West London with his clever runs into the channels. The former Juventus and Real Madrid striker was a terrific outlet, with his pace (and ability to dribble directly if he had no help) giving United’s defence a real headache. At the other end, Lukaku had a snap shot parried away by his international team mate Courtois, as the first half continued to excite. We were having difficulty in launching counters, as Azpiliceuta regularly stepped out of the back 3 to block passing lines to Lukaku, plus our wing-backs, Valencia and Young, were having a tough time advancing into Chelsea territory.

One of the reasons Chelsea had begun to be dominant was that Hazard was getting more of the ball in attacking areas. Why? Well, simply, Chelsea had three in midfield to our two and we always struggled to retain the ball. But just as important was our unfamiliarity and unsuitability with the back three. We don’t, with Rojo still not back, possess a centre-half who is brilliant at bringing the ball out, and too often we had three players marking one, Morata. This meant in practice that Chelsea could occupy a chunk of our team with one man and thus pass around the players stationed in front, hence why Bakayoko and Hazard were picking up great positions. On the team sheet of course, Hazard was listed as playing up top with Morata, but the Belgian roamed around in a free role befitting his status as Chelsea’s star man. United didn’t assign one player to follow him, and so he was becoming more influential.

Still, half time came and went and we were in it. Our coach had noticed the problem with the space, and within 5 minutes of the restart two United players were booked for tough tackles on Hazard, keen to let him know he would not have as much freedom in this half. United’s centre-backs also started to push further up to stop the space between the lines. It needed to be done, but it inadvertently led to the goal.

Opta had put out the stat that no player has scored more headed goals in the big five European leagues since the start of last season than Morata. So of course he was unmarked to power home an admittedly towering header from a great ball from the ever resourceful Azpiliceuta. Jones had been drawn out to cover other threats, but we still had two centre-backs to cover the Spaniard, but Bailly and Smalling were caught napping and top strikers only need a sniff. 1-0.

Few teams are harder to play against when losing than Chelsea and you sensed straight away it was going to be an uphill task. It could’ve been two as Fabregas played in Hazard who swept a first-time effort straight at De Gea. Mourinho reacted quickly bringing on Martial and Fellaini; It was a welcome return for the giant midfielder, but it soon turned nightmarish.

Let’s not get this twisted, Manchester United have badly missed Fellaini, especially with Pogba out. His game changing qualities made him an obvious candidate for coming on, but it was clearly too soon. Even Stevie Wonder could see straight away he wasn’t fully fit. He was immediately pickpocketed by Bakayoko when dawdling on the ball and was lucky that the Frenchman blasted wide after being held up by Smalling. If he had waited a couple more seconds, he could’ve given the rapidly advancing Morata a practical tap-in for another goal. This was one of three Chelsea opportunities created by Fellaini’s clumsiness in possession and general lack of finesse. He was a direct hindrance to his side for a good while.

United then did fuck all for ages, or rather, Chelsea didn’t let us. The Champions then passed it around, happy to make United chase the ball, content to let the game drift into the closing stages knowing they could counter as the Red Devils pushed more players forward. In the final 10 minutes, Fellaini was stationed up front as a target man, ball after ball was slung into the box, and all of a sudden the mood of the game changed. It was curious that as much as we had been outplayed in the second half, you could clearly see Chelsea were bricking it in the last 10 minutes as they drastically dropped deep to deal with Fellaini. It was quite frantic.

The expensively assembled Man Utd of Jose Mourinho went route one in search of an equaliser, and the ABU’s loved it, I’m sure. Pretty much every team goes direct when losing in the last few minutes, but whatever. It was starting to work, anyway. Rashford flashed wide with a left footed half-volley from the edge of the box after a Herrera cross was headed out poorly. Then an even better chance – a hoof from Bailly, world class chest control and turn in the box from Fellaini, and a shot that forced Courtois into a good save. On the other hand, we were now vulnerable at the back, and Morata should’ve finished off a swift breakaway but got his feet in a muddle and blew a one-on-one in pretty much the only mistake he made all evening.

At one point during this onslaught, the ball trickled towards Matic out wide on the left with loads of red shirts in the box, and he let it out for a throw which he didn’t even take long. A minor detail but it annoyed me no end – just lump it in the general direction of Fellaini, you daft prick. As good as he’d been, he was constantly receiving it in 1 on 1 situations during this phase of play. The ball fell to him in a dangerous situation frequently in the last 10 minutes but he couldn’t do anything, it was pretty frustrating. I’ll forgive him though, he was the only outfield player who really was calm and thoughtful with his passing throughout. It’s not like we bought him to unlock a packed defence and nick us a goal in the dying minutes at Chelsea anyway.

It was end-to-end at this point. Lingard's long ball was flicked on by Fellaini (by now, our biggest threat) and Matic was fouled 25 yards out. Rashford took the free-kick, and it was deflected over. Chelsea cleared the corner, and that was that. Conte had got it spot on, and we were a tad lucky it was only 1-0.

Chelsea had obviously won the midfield battle. Kante coming back made a big difference to them, he enabled the superb Fabregas and Hazard, meaning they could focus on attack. Bakayoko, as mentioned before, was excellent with the timing of his runs, but fortunately for us he made the wrong decision almost every time to waste his chances. But I still do feel they could’ve been nullified if we had played a trio in the middle from the start, but with Fellaini not fully-fit it maybe wasn’t worth the risk.

Did Mourinho do loads wrong? Probably not. Some reckoned we were scared and terrible… We were a lot more offensive than at Anfield. In any case, had Morata’s incredible man of the match performance rendered discussion of our set up largely meaningless? We need our own talisman Pogba back sharpish for the big games. Oh and no more back three. Please. Even against City. Well, maybe in that special case. Obviously, for this game it was fine, but with Fellaini fit again, changing the system to a variant of 4-3-3 is a must for the big clashes. We just don’t quite have the personnel to truly make the most out of the back three/five.

Mkhitaryan was a disgrace, there is very little else you can say. His role was crucial, to link the forwards and midfielders, but he completely failed, barely touching the ball, and committing the ultimate sin in a Mourinho team in a big away game: completely failing to press and show your work-rate off the ball. Given that he fought his way back into the team last season partly based on his tenacity compared to some of the other creative players, this was a real shame. With the Armenian on the pitch, Man Utd may as well have played with ten men. He has been the player who has missed Pogba the most, his confidence is at rock bottom, and it’s getting harder to remember his last properly good game. When you’re off form like he is, the least you expect is a bit of fight - instead he looked like he didn’t give a shit. Perhaps the guy just needs a break, give him some time off and let him run riot in December. That, or hypnotise him into believing every game is in the Europa League. But we are entitled to expect more from someone who almost always this season has started in his preferred position and yet produced dreadful crap since September. 

There’s definitely a school of thought that you can’t blame the forwards due to lack of service, and to an extent I accept that. But also, fuck that. (See that intelligent counter argument?) We spent £75m on Lukaku, and despite his great start it’s becoming clear he can’t hold the ball up that well -he certainly didn’t here- and doesn’t create chances for himself frequently. He has to make the ball stick. This was the sort of 90 minutes from him I was fearing in big games when he was signed. The contrast with the all-action Morata (another red target in the summer) was stark. In mitigation, against the big teams we haven’t yet put in a class performance, and it is his first season.

The final whistle went and Conte went onto to pitch to celebrate a pressure-relieving win, blanking Mourinho. Moaning about managerial handshakes should be the sole preserve of Mark Hughes, but the incident did nothing to alleviate the rumours that the two bosses really don’t like each other. Not that I cared about such nonsense – it’s the international break now, with Germany and Brazil strutting their stuff at Wembley. Time to lick our wounds, regroup, and ensure we’re ready for Newcastle on November 18^th.

United (5-2-1-2) De Gea 8; Valencia 6, Bailly 7, Smalling 6.5, Jones 6 (Fellaini 62, 5.5), Young 5.5 (Lingard 78, 5); Herrera 6, Matic 7.5; Mkhitaryan 3.5 (Martial 62, 5); Rashford 6, Lukaku 5.

Chelsea ratings as well, because why not:

Chelsea (3-5-2) Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 8, Christensen 8, Cahill 7; Zappacosta 6 (Rudiger 66, 5.5), Fabregas 8 (Drinkwater 79, 5.5), Kante 8, Bakayoko 6, Alonso 6.5; Morata 9, Hazard 8 (Willian 87).