After making life hard for themselves in the first half, Manchester United responded after the break but lapses in concentration made the performance sloppy at best.
Manchester United went 1-0 down in the first half, having heavily dominated the game against a team happy to sit back and defend. It’s one thing dominating the game against teams like this – but you’ve got to find ways to break them down, which United failed to do before the break
The introductions of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial made a huge difference in the second half. They scored three goals between them to warrant a place in the team on Sunday against Everton.
We know who is starting up front on Sunday
Since returning from injury, Martial has made two appearances off the bench for United. He scored two goals in the last 10 minutes against Manchester City and tonight he found the back of the net just shortly after coming off the bench. Ten Hag must put him into the starting eleven on Sunday because he looks like a guy ready to prove people wrong. The same could be said about Rashford because he is showing better form under Erik ten Hag.
Jadon Sancho needs to wake up
Whilst we got the win, some players need to wake up after carrying their sloppiness from the Manchester derby into consecutive games. Jadon Sancho was at fault for two of City’s goals in the 6-3 thrashing and he played an awkward pass to Tyrell Malacia before Omonia caught United on a counter-attack. In the past two games he has looked too passive in defence and I am still dumbfound by his backward pass – to Malacia – while United were attacking Omonia at the edge of the box. It wasn’t the right place to recycle possession. The former Borussia Dortmund lacked drive and attacking edge. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was benched at the weekend.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s wait goes on…
Ronaldo is still waiting for his 700th goal in club football after missing a flurry of chances tonight. The 37-year-old got into attacking positions and had one effort crash off the post from close range. You could tell he was desperate to get on the scoresheet – and his teammates did everything they could to make it happen – but it wasn’t to be. Didn’t look like a Champions League striker.
