GEWISS STADIUM — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s words ahead of Manchester United’s trip to Bergamo proved to be rather prophetic.
Solskjaer said “the quality of what we did was more important than the system” after his side thumped Tottenham 3-0 with a new 5-3-2 formation. In Italy, it was two moments of outstanding quality, rather than a cohesive team performance, that earned a draw that will do little to change the minds of the United manager’s doubters.
Red Devils fans may have hoped that the change of tactics would herald a new dawn and help the club break its maddening inconsistency. But they saw little of the new-look system and required a magnificent stoppage-time Cristiano Ronaldo volley to rescue a draw after another disjointed display.
The 5-3-2 lasted only 38 minutes at the Gewiss Stadium before an injury to Raphael Varane convinced the United boss to return to his tried and tested 4-2-3-1, with his side trailing 1-0 to an early Josip Ilicic strike.
Solskjaer’s tweak soon paid off when Ronaldo finished off a well-worked team move to fire them level on the brink of half time, but Duvan Zapata restored Atalanta’s lead on the 56th minute, the goal awarded via VAR after originally being disallowed for offside.
Ronaldo’s sumptuous stoppage-time volley saved United from a fourth consecutive away defeat in the Champions League and helped them cling on to top spot in Group F.
The Norwegian sprang a surprise by picking Eric Bailly for just the second time this season in defence, while also welcoming Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford back to the starting side.
The visitors were met a rowdy reception from the local crowd, who were in full voice before kick-off as fireworks outside the ground lit up a chilly Bergamo evening.
United almost silenced their noisy hosts after just five minutes, when Scott McTominay’s shot from the edge of the area took a heavy deflection and bobbled onto the foot of the post with goalkeeper Juan Musso stranded.
But Atalanta soon went in front Zapata picked out Ilicic and the Slovenian’s first-time shot caught out David de Gea as it squirmed under the goalkeeper’s body.
Bailly denied Zapata an Atalanta second with a superb goal-saving block, before United were forced into a change when Varane walked off injured to be replaced by Mason Greenwood.
Solskjaer’s tactical tinkering paid off on the brink of half time, when Greenwood picked out Fernandes in the box, who showed wonderful vision to back-heel a pass into Ronaldo’s path for a typically explosive finish.
The goal only glossed over a poor first half performance from United though, where they rarely threatened and struggled to gain control, having 43 per cent possession.
Greenwood’s introduction did provide a spark though, and the youngster thumped the post early in the second half, but it wouldn’t have counted anyway as the flag was up.
The linesman raised his arm once again on the 56th minute when Zapata raced in behind to meet a pass and finish past De Gea, but the offside decision was overturned following a lengthy VAR check to spark delayed celebrations from the players and crowd.
With 20 minutes to go, Edinson Cavani and Nemanja Matic were brought on, the latter for Paul Pogba despite his central midfield colleague McTominay being on a yellow card and a final warning from the referee.
But the changes failed to provide the hoped-for turnaround and instead it was Atalanta who threatened a third, as De Gea dove to palm a powerful Zapata shot around his post.
Jadon Sancho and the rarely sighted Donny van de Beek was flung on for the final few minutes in a final throw of the dice from United’s beleaguered manager.
They piled forward, and the pressure told when Greenwood teed up Ronaldo for a wonderful volley into the bottom corner, stunning a home crowd who thought they had done enough to claim a famous win.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3CRC0Go
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