Last night we saw Manchester United crash out of the FA Cup at the fourth round after losing on penalties to Middlesbrough. After a very deflating end to what started out as a good performance from Manchester United, the loss came as Anthony Elanga missed Manchester United’s eighth penalty. Here are five things that we learnt.
Missing chances
Manchester United needed to be a lot more clinical. Particularly in the first half there were maybe three or four clear chances to score, including the Ronaldo missed penalty. In the match overall, United had 30 shots with 9 of those being on target. Putting up those kinds of numbers and coming away with one goal is not good enough. Going into half time, United had the opportunity to be at least 3 goals up. If we could have been more clinical in front of goal then having that bizarre refereeing decision to allow the goal after the handball wouldn’t have been so costly. We probably wouldn’t have gone on to extra time and eventually lose the game on penalties.
Passing better
One positive to take from this performance was that for large parts of the game, the first 90 minutes anyway, United played like they deserved to win. Granted we only came up against Championship opposition and we eventually went on to lose the game. But in those first 60 minutes or so we actually looked like a proper team and we looked to have control of the game. Which makes the loss that much tougher to take.
In the first half of the match in particular we looked really sharp. We were creating a lot of chances. And we were doing so through working passages of play together. Stringing multiple passes together as well. Obviously these things are basic and we need to be seeing a lot more than that. But given some of the performances these players have put out in the not so distant past, that is at least some small step in the right direction.
Team needs confidence
As soon as Middlesbrough brought the scoreline level through Duncan Watmore’s goal, Manchester United never really looked like getting back into the game. It felt like as soon as we conceded heads went. All that good work we had done prior to conceding went out of the window. All that talk of domination, all those passages of play, those chances created wasted. As soon as that goal went in we saw those same mistakes creeping back. Misplaced passes, lazy tackles and poor clearances all started to crop up with increasing frequency as the game progressed. As we approached the latter stages of extra time it looked set for penalties. A result which clearly went in Middlesbrough’s favour.
Creative Spark
As has already been alluded to, creating chances wasn’t really a problem for Manchester United last night. The issues came in converting those chances to goals as was addressed earlier. But there were a few players who notably put in good performances in terms of creating chances. Bruno Fernandes had another productive performance. He made five key passes, made five accurate long balls and completed three dribbles. And of course he got the assist for Sancho’s goal.
I thought Jadon Sancho also looked really sharp, particularly in that first half. He was making some really clever runs in behind. He was linking up the play very well and progressing the ball nicely down either side. Paul Pogba also put in a good performance in his return to the starting eleven. With an 86% pass accuracy, 4 accurate long balls and 1 key pass, he put in a solid performance on his return. As well as some defensive contribution with 3 interceptions, 1 tackle and 1 clearance. Hopefully we can see more of him and Bruno in the starting lineup as the weeks go on.
Chances of silverware dropped
Coming into this game, the main thing I was concerned with was progressing to the next round. Of course you want to see your team play good football and you want an exciting match. But at the end of the day we got both of those things to some degree last night and what do we have to show for it. What was previously our best chance at a trophy this season is gone. The only things left to fight for now for the rest of the season are a place in the top four and to progress as far as we can in the Champions League. But, with Atletico Madrid not too far on the horizon that looks to be a difficult task.