Well, that goes down as a bad start to our Europa League campaign after losing at home at Real Sociedad. It was sluggish from start to finish and I think Erik ten Hag will be disappointed with the vast majority of those who played on the night.
La Real won the match 1-0 – thanks to a dodgy penalty call, which we will discuss later in this post-match reaction piece. They didn’t deserve the win but celebrated like they had won the Europa League at full-time.
Without further ado, here are my three observations from the 1-0 defeat against Real Sociedad.
Just a setback
Erik ten Hag named just a few players from his starting XI in tonight’s line-up, so you could say it was our second-string team tonight. The primary starting team won’t be affected by this result, so I don’t see it as a setback for them, but it will be for those trying to claim a spot in the team. Only Anthony Elanga did himself a favour in the first-half.
VAR disgrace
The match was turned on its head when VAR failed to do its job in the second half. Lisandro Martinez had dived to block a shot, stopping it initially with his knee but the ball rebounded onto his arm prompting a call from the referee. It was never a penalty because the ball deflected off his knee first, yet VAR deemed the referee’s call correct after a check. Real Sociedad can count themselves lucky.
Cristiano Ronaldo struggled
Ronaldo missed the pace he had years ago tonight. On several occasions it let him down against Real Sociedad and I don’t think he has made Ten Hag’s decision to bench him more difficult. He needs to improve.