Fair's fair, I 've had a go at United under Van Gaal and I'll go record as saying that i hope he isn't here next season. But last night wasn't the night for booing and attack chants. United played at a higher tempo, played with width and attacked with purpose. Yes it all went a bit flat in that second half, but that was because we hadn't got that goal when we'd had the chances and the opposition's pretty negative tactics were starting to gain the upper hand.
I was glad to see Lingard start, and I don't think he let his manager down, in fact he would have been my man of the match. Unbelievably he was getting a fair amount of stick from people within the ground towards the end of the first half with a couple of misplaced passes. But he had given us energy, was willing to take people on, didn't hide and did his defensive duties. The chance he blazed wide during that first half was no gimme, he had to hit it hard there was a man on the line plus the goalie. Some joker behind me had shouted pass it into the net, as if that would have worked.
What impressed me even more about his performance, especially during the second half, was the way he was playing as an out and out winger staying wide, taking his man on. Because if you have followed his career, even though he has often started wide, he is definitely not a winger. Well on yesterday's performance and his substitute stint against City, he's doing a better job as a winger than Depay is at the moment.
The crucial moment during the match was probably the one and basically only chance they spurned just before we scored. It was a glorious chance and though De Gea made a great save and Smalling then made a great block, he should have tucked away one of those chances.
The mood had become pretty mutinous by then, with Martial's withdrawal not widely appreciated. Martial hadn't had much of a game and in the normal course of events, taking him off would have been fair enough. But with Rooney's current form and his replacement being Fellaini, the unhappiness was understandable. The fact Rooney managed to put the winner away doesn't change the fact, he didn't do enough during the 90 minutes yet again. He had a glorious chance put on a plate for him by Mata that he managed to get stuck between his feet and then have the ball taken of him. It's hard to imagine Martial not tucking that away.
It was fitting that the winning goal was also probably the best move of the game. Memphis lost the ball, but Carrick managed to then find Lingard with a great pass, Lingard bettered the pass with a glorious vollied cross that just begged a striker to finish it off. Thankfully, even the woefully out of form Rooney couldn't spurn that chance and Old trafford went mad, a goal, at last.
Where we go from here, fuck knows, the Russians came for a draw and weren't far away from getting it. For the most part they sat back and got men behind the ball. So though I have said it was a far better performance, we were aided by the visitors tactics. How we'll fare against West Brom on Saturday could be a whole different kettle of fish.
I was glad to see Lingard start, and I don't think he let his manager down, in fact he would have been my man of the match. Unbelievably he was getting a fair amount of stick from people within the ground towards the end of the first half with a couple of misplaced passes. But he had given us energy, was willing to take people on, didn't hide and did his defensive duties. The chance he blazed wide during that first half was no gimme, he had to hit it hard there was a man on the line plus the goalie. Some joker behind me had shouted pass it into the net, as if that would have worked.
What impressed me even more about his performance, especially during the second half, was the way he was playing as an out and out winger staying wide, taking his man on. Because if you have followed his career, even though he has often started wide, he is definitely not a winger. Well on yesterday's performance and his substitute stint against City, he's doing a better job as a winger than Depay is at the moment.
The crucial moment during the match was probably the one and basically only chance they spurned just before we scored. It was a glorious chance and though De Gea made a great save and Smalling then made a great block, he should have tucked away one of those chances.
The mood had become pretty mutinous by then, with Martial's withdrawal not widely appreciated. Martial hadn't had much of a game and in the normal course of events, taking him off would have been fair enough. But with Rooney's current form and his replacement being Fellaini, the unhappiness was understandable. The fact Rooney managed to put the winner away doesn't change the fact, he didn't do enough during the 90 minutes yet again. He had a glorious chance put on a plate for him by Mata that he managed to get stuck between his feet and then have the ball taken of him. It's hard to imagine Martial not tucking that away.
It was fitting that the winning goal was also probably the best move of the game. Memphis lost the ball, but Carrick managed to then find Lingard with a great pass, Lingard bettered the pass with a glorious vollied cross that just begged a striker to finish it off. Thankfully, even the woefully out of form Rooney couldn't spurn that chance and Old trafford went mad, a goal, at last.
Where we go from here, fuck knows, the Russians came for a draw and weren't far away from getting it. For the most part they sat back and got men behind the ball. So though I have said it was a far better performance, we were aided by the visitors tactics. How we'll fare against West Brom on Saturday could be a whole different kettle of fish.
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