To say suffering defeat at home to the Premier League’s bottom side can derail a title challenge even at this juncture of the season may seem somewhat churlish, but with Manchester City back to what appears their imperious, almost unfathomable best, Manchester United may look back on a typically damp Manchester night in late January as the moment their surprising title tilt came unstuck.
While City will face tougher tests than a porous West Brom, their performance in Tuesday’s 5-0 win at The Hawthorns was as close to the City centurions of 2017-18 as we have seen in some time.
Gauntlet well and truly laid down, United wilted in this unfamiliar summit-hinting territory. There was no rousing response on this occasion, even with all their entire strike arsenal on the pitch at Old Trafford. Two players scoring their first-ever Premier League goals did the damage to a machine that was only just clicking into gear.
Perhaps, like many pupils around the country, United’s players had clearly not been listening during their homeschooling lessons this week. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had even dedicated a large part of his programme notes to what he sees as United’s biggest flaw – conceding early goals – but his rallying cry fell off deaf ears.
For the 10th time in this most madcap of seasons, United conceded first in the Premier League – half of their league matches to date. A first top-flight Sheffield United goal at Old Trafford since 1993 was very avoidable too, with David De Gea making a mess of trying to claim a corner, and Kean Bryan, a Mancunian, flicking a header into the net.
There was real concern on the United bench. Ahead of the Blades’ visit, United had won seven Premier League games after conceding first this season – the most of any club – but all these wins have been away from home. United had lost the two in which they conceded first at Old Trafford this season.
Anthony Martial thought he had levelled from a similar chance to the Blades’ opener only for Harry Maguire to be penalised for a foul on Aaron Ramsdale, much to the United skipper’s dismay. Maguire and United had every right to be aggrieved, as there was little difference between Maguire’s challenge and Bryan’s jump with De Gea.
This was supposed to represent a long overdue comfortable evening for United. After a six-game winless run at Old Trafford, United had won four of their last five home league games ahead of the Blades’ visit, keeping three clean sheets in this run. But sloppiness early on reared its ugly head once more.
Sheffield United had not held a half-time lead in the Premier League all season prior to this and looked to have shot themselves in the foot as they allowed Greenwood to break through three minutes after the interval, but again the teenager’s radar was wide of the mark.
All eyes were on the United bench. Why was Solskjaer not making any changes when it clearly wasn’t working? Everyone in attendance was watching Cavani’s warm-up more intently than the match itself. United had their game changer, he was just frustratingly being kept waiting in the wings.
The Sheffield United defenders must also have been watching Cavani as he sprinted back to the bench while ripping off his training top like Clark Kent, failing to mark Maguire as he was left unmarked to head United level in the 64th minute – a captain’s goal, as Clive Tyldesley would put it.
The goal did not quite have the Roy Keane-esque galvanising effect as United, even with Cavani’s intelligent runs causing more problems, still struggled to find their fluidity. The winner came, but not at the end everyone expected.
The space afforded to Oliver Burke was criminal, while the clearance from De Gea, who is not in Ederson or Alisson’s league with the ball at his feet, was tame. The finish from Oliver Burke was fortunate, too, a deflection from Axel Tuanzebe taking it past De Gea’s despairing dive.
Cavani’s chance to be the hero came and went as he snatched at a volley, and that was disappointingly that for United.
A first defeat in 14 Premier League games is not what will displease United fans far and wide, but it is the manner of the performance, the antithesis of the unstoppable-looking City juggernaut the previous night, that will be most jarring.
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