Manchester United for the umpteenth time were poor and not good enough to grab all 3 points after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Leicester City, a team who this season has been poor away from home.
Manchester United should count themselves lucky as VAR came to the rescue after James Maddison scored what could have been the winner on 81 minutes after a foul on Varane by Iheanacho went unnoticed by the referee and Maguire clumsily dove into a tackle and still failed to clear his lines.
Iheanacho scrambled a pass to Maddison who blasted the ball home from 6 yards.
Manchester United were also clumsy upfront in stoppage time as the ineffective Anthony Elanga in an attempt to selfishly score despite being in an offside position ended up tackling Marcus Rashford who was better placed to shoot.
Ultimately, Manchester United lacked quality, were not good enough and suffered from the absence of Ronaldo and Cavani who were both unavailable due to illness and injury respectively.
Manchester United as many expected were knocked out of the Champions League by Athletico Madrid who many consider to be one of the weakest since Diego Simeone’s reign as manager.
Yet, Man United could not defeat this declining Athletico Madrid team over 180 minutes. What a shame. United only had one shot on target in the entire second half in a game that the rest of the season was hinged on.
United’s season is effectively over. No games for the club in the next 18 days.
You can check my new podcast here as I reflect on a dark situation.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his 59th career hat trick as he helped United defeat Tottenham Hotspur to keep United’s slim top 4 hopes alive.
His effort from long range, his tap in from 6 yards and towering header from a corner kick was enough to stave off a resilient Spurs who twice drew level after going behind because Cristiano kept restoring United’s lead shortly after.
You can click here to listen to my podcast as I relive yesterday’s action.
Manchester United despite starting abysmally and generally not turning up at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, managed to take back to Old Trafford a 1-1 draw which they can build on in 3 weeks time.
Man United have to win at OT either in regulation time or full time no matter what as the away goals rule has been scrapped. But if United’s performance last night is anything to go by, then a lot of work needs to be done if they will be able to scale through to the round of 16.
Kindly check out my new podcast as I discuss another woeful but lucky performance by United in Spain.
Manchester United defeated Leeds at Elland Road by 4 goals to 2 in terrible weather conditions and a hostile atmosphere.
It was a game that was entertaining for the neutral but topsy turvy for United fans after United again threw away a lead shortly after the second half began.
This time however, Man United were able to get back into the game and restore their 2 goal lead. Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Elanga grabbed the goals for Man United.
Kindly check out my podcast for my reaction and thoughts on the game here:
Manchester United paid for their profligacy in front of goal by getting held to a 1-1 draw by relegation battlers, Burnley, at Turf Moor.
Paul Pogba put United ahead with an excellent finish while Jay Rodriguez restored parity in the 47th minute. United afterward, struggled to get a foothold of the game and couldn’t create as many chances as they did in the first half.
Manchester United suffered a humiliating defeat to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup 4th round after being held to a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes at Old Trafford.
Middlesbrough qualified for the 5th round winning 7-8 via penalty shootout. Anthony Elanga missed the decisive penalty after blazing his penalty to row Z.
Kindly check out my reaction to this woeful defeat here
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Mason Greenwood has been released from police custody after being arrested when his girlfriend released evidence on social media accusing him of rape and physical abuse.
A further charge of “threats to kill” has been added to the previous 2 as things get worse for Mason. In light of the situation, I analyse how bleak the situation has become for Mason.
I also shared my thoughts on another disappointing transfer window as Man United failed not for the first time to address clear weaknesses in midfield in the recently shut January transfer window.
The stand out fixtures for the weekend were the games between Arsenal vs Manchester City and Chelsea vs Liverpool. Both games lived up to the hype and expectations of fans and neutrals.
I am also tempted to talk about Manchester United and the mess at the club but it deserves a special article on its own as the scope of the mess is a broad one. I am fuming about the reports I am hearing about player attitude and morale since Ole left. Their stinking attitude to training and the new regime is now being manifesting on to the field of play with disastrous consequences.
Manchester United were abysmal against Wolves in their 0-1 loss at OT. How often have I said this? The inevitable first defeat of Ralf Rangnick’s reign has been coming the moment the United players kicked a ball in their game against Norwich. Norwich, Newcastle and even Burnley all deserved a positive result in their games with Man United. United avoided defeat in all 3 but their good fortune ran out at OT when Wolves came to town.
Anyway, back to the games I really want to talk about, Arsenal appear to have turned a corner under Arteta’s reign. And should now be taken seriously. I have never seen City rattled against any team this season the way they were against Arsenal on Saturday.
After dominating possession for the first quarter of the game, City were soon under the cosh from Arsenal who grew into the game and went toe to toe with City. Bukayo Saka deservedly grabbed Arsenal’s opener after a great cross from Tierney.
The first major controversy of the match was Ederson’s challenge on Odegaard which was not awarded as a penalty to the Gunners. Personally, I have seen the replays and it is my view that it was not a penalty. Of course, Arsenal fans would disagree. But replays show that Odegaard stamped on Ederson’s foot as he tried to hit the ball.
It was not a clear and obvious error according to VAR and they chose not to over rule the ref, Stuart Atwell. That is if we want to concede that there was some contact made on Odegaard by Ederson. However, replays show that Odegaard actually stamped on Ederson. To me, this type of scenario is one where opinion will be split and whatever decision the ref takes will divide opinion.
The next controversial moment was in the second half when Benardo Silva was fouled by Granit Xhaka in the 18 yard box. Arsenal fans feel that Xhaka tugged Bernado’s shirt after Bernado was already on his way down. But I feel Xhaka was dumb to have held on to Bernado’s shirt a fraction too long to give the impression that he impacted Bernado’s run.
There was no reason for him to tug his shirt anyway. I understand that sometimes these things happen unconsciously but that was very unnecessary from Xhaka. That tug made the decision for VAR to ask Stuart Atwell to review his decision not to award a penalty and Atwell after watching the playback was convinced that his initial decision was wrong.
Riyad Mahrez coolly stepped up and sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way.
Next talking point, Arsenal’s Gabriel gets a second booking after a foul on Jesus. Again, Arsenal supporters feel that Atwell was inconsistent. Some City players, notably Rodri, who made a lot of big challenges throughout the match escaped without a booking while Arsenal players like Gabriel were not so lucky. In this regard, I agree with aggrieved Arsenal fans.
City now had a one man advantage but Arsenal were the ones who created the better chances and if not for a comical foray into City’s 18 yard box by Atwell that impeded Martinelli’s run, Martinelli could have scored after a defensive mix up between Laporte and Ederson.
City exerted control of the game without really threatening until stoppage time when Rodri managed to time his late run and sneak through the Arsenal defence and poke the ball into the net to send City into rapturous celebrations.
Arsenal will not mind losing to any elite team in a gallant manner. The Arsenal team played without fear and played very well. Perhaps those Arteta faithful who popularised the slogan “Trust the process” were right after all.
The Chelsea-Liverpool game was excellent for 45 minutes. The second half was a bit cagey with the best efforts coming from Liverpool in the second half through Mane and Jota.
The first half though was excellent. Tuchel as many expected, opted to exclude Romelu Lukaku from the matchday squad in the wake of his interview with Sky Sports Italy where he complained about his experience with Chelsea so far since his return.
But Chelsea did not allow the Lukaku saga to derail their performance with Liverpool as they fought back after going 2 goals down with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah grabbing the goals for Liverpool.
Mateo Kovacic pulled one back as he scored a worldie which has to go down as one of the goals of the season with an excellent volley.
Christian Pulisic a few minutes later grabbed the equaliser with another excellent left footed volley after an excellent lay off from N’golo Kante (who was outstanding all game) to draw Chelsea level just before half time.
With the kind of managers and personnel involved, you can only hope as a neutral that the game would continue with the intensity and excitement that was in store for us in the first half but most often than not, managers and players tend to learn from the mistakes quickly and nullify any lapses that led to the excitement in the first place and try to gain more control.
In the end, both teams had to settle for a point. Manchester City on the other hand now look nailed on to retain their PL title as their closest rivals continue to lose ground. Liverpool will be losing Mane and Salah for a few weeks due to AFCON commitments. How significant their absence will be is left to be seen.
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Manchester United suffered another defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers after Joao Moutinho scored a late winner at OT to exact revenge over Man United after they lost by the same scoreline earlier this season at Molineux.
Man United were terrible again on the night as they failed to threaten Wolves for most of the game and ultimately paid the price for a toothless performance.
Kindly check out my rant here as I go on a rant while analysing what went wrong.