Maguire urges Man United stars to stand up after falling against Sheffield United

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 27: Harry Maguire of Manchester United is congratulated by Axel Tuanzebe after scoring their side's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Sheffield United at Old Trafford on January 27, 2021 in Manchester, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Manchester United wasted a chance to reclaim their place at the top of the Premier League after losing 2-1 at home against Sheffield United.

Chris Wilder’s Blades got their second win of the campaign after coming to Old Trafford sitting at the bottom of the Premier League. In the past month United have been building momentum in order to become recognised as title contenders, so to lose in such fashion tonight was a real kick in the teeth.

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire urged his team-mates to bounce back after seeing them fail to overcome Sheffield United on Wednesday night.

Kean Bryan and Oliver Burke scored for the visitors to deny United the chance to return to the top of the Premier League table, after Man City leapfrogged us with a 5-0 win over West Brom.

Maguire gave us brief hope with an equalise after the hour mark, and he acknowledged that United must return to form immediately in order to stay in the race.

“It wasn’t good enough, we didn’t play to the level we have in recent weeks,” Maguire told BT Sport after the match, as cited by GOAL. “We gave them two goals, now it’s time to stand up and be counted because it’s easy when you are winning football matches — when you lose it is about how quickly you bounce back.

“We started the game in full control. We haver to do more, we made it hard for ourselves, got ourselves back in it and you can’t lose it from there.

“We knew at half time the next goal would be crucial, we had great belief we could do that again. We weren’t good enough tonight and didn’t play to a level we expect from ourselves.”

United have the perfect chance to respond on Saturday against Arsenal.

The Gunners are unpredictable but if we’re at our best we could absolutely destroy them.

Maguire and the lads should be going out to get revenge, too.

Read more: Opinion: Reality check on a bad night at the office for Solskjaer’s United