Villarreal 0 Manchester United 2 (Ronaldo 78′, Sancho 90′)
Late goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho ensured Manchester United began the post-Solskjaer era with a crucial victory over Villarreal in the Champions League.
United kept their first clean sheet in nearly a month in caretaker manager Michael Carrick’s first game in charge and sealed progress to the knockout stage thanks to two smart goals.
Carrick stamped his authority on the team by dropping Bruno Fernandes and handing Donny van de Beek just his third start of the season, but it was the introduction of the Portuguese playmaker that sparked United into life in the second half.
Fred intercepted a poor goal kick from and the quick-thinking Ronaldo lobbed Geronimo Rulli before the Villarreal keeper could make it back to his net for the first, before Sancho fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner to finish off an excellent counter-attack and seal his first United goal.
United also had David de Gea to thank after the long-serving goalkeeper made two superb saves to deny Manu Trigueros in either half.
The travelling United fans began the game with a show of support for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, singing their recently departed manager’s name with gusto after kick-off, but by full-time it was “Viva Ronaldo” that rang around the away end at El Madrigal at what the club hopes will be the start of a promising new era.
Man Utd player ratings
David de Gea: Sharp save to deny Trigueros in the first half and an even better one in the second. The difference between the two sides 9
Aaron Wan-Bissaka: Conservative defensive shape helped a player who is more comfortable in his own half than the opposition’s but he still looked out of sorts going forward and in possession 5
Alex Telles: Lacked sharpness and gave his opponent far too much space early on for Villarreal’s first two chances, but looked better going forward with some dangerous crosses from deep positions 6
Victor Lindelof: Began the game with a big, inaccurate hoof straight out of play and maintained that no-nonsense approach in a solid display at the back 7
Harry Maguire: Error-free game for the United captain, which is an improvement on Saturday’s calamitous display against Watford. Kept things simple 7
Fred: Made two crucial interventions to tee up Ronaldo and Sancho’s goals and had a solid game in midfield despite suffering a painful twisted ankle in the first half 8
Scott McTominay: Showed forward intent with his passing although execution not always as good as the throughball that kickstarted the counterattack for Sancho’s late goal 7
Jadon Sancho: United’s brightest outfield player. Looked more comfortable playing wide right and taking on his man rather than having to cut in from the left and scored 8
Donny van de Beek: Not always on the same wavelength as his teammates, perhaps understandably given his lack of minutes, and replaced after 65 minutes. Will be disappointed not to have made more of an impact 6
Anthony Martial: Mistimed the press early on and spent too much time strolling around before being taken off in the second half. Cannot have made a good impression on the caretaker boss 4
Cristiano Ronaldo: Made some good effort to press and close down Villarreal’s back four and showed his class with late goal and excellent pass in build up to Sancho’s goal 8
Subs:
Fernandes: Made an instant impact after coming off the bench, with well-timed pass to slice open the Villarreal defence and set up Sancho 7
Rashford: Excellent. Much livelier influence than Martial after coming off the bench and had crucial role in Sancho’s goal 7
Champions League Group F table
What did Carrick change?
While given little more than 48 hours to prepare for this game following Solskjaer’s sacking, caretaker manager Michael Carrick did stamp his authority on the United team by dropping Fernandes from the starting XI.
The Portuguese playmaker was so often the talisman under Solskjaer but has been desperately out of form this year, going 13 matches without scoring.
In his place came Van de Beek, a man persistently overlooked by the previous manager but who did impress after coming off the bench against Watford at the weekend, for just his third start of the season.
Aside from that, Carrick made few other changes on paper, but there were subtle tweaks out on the pitch.
United’s teamsheet showed a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, with Fred and McTominay paired in midfield and Martial and Sancho working either side of Ronaldo up front.
In reality, however, Ronaldo and Martial worked in a pair when United were out of posession with Sancho dropping onto the right side of a midfield diamond, Fred pushing left and McTominay sitting. With the ball, the shape was more fluid, with Ronaldo, Van de Beek and Martial often swapping positions.
While the attack didn’t quite fire early they did at least look more compact, perhaps crucially for a team that has conceded so many this season.
Carrick appeared to have told his defenders to concentrate on their defending first and foremost, with all four rarely venturing too far out of their own half.
Most pleasing of all for the caretaker boss will have been the impact his in-game substitutions made. United looked far sharper once Fernandes and Rashford came off the bench, with the two forward players inspiring a morale-boosting win ahead of the daunting visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Quote of the night: Scholes takes aim at United’s coaches
Former United midfielder Paul Scholes pulled no punches in the build-up to the game on BT Sport and took aim at Solskjaer’s coaching team who have remained with the club: Michael Carrick, Kieran McKenna and Mike Phelan.
“I’d almost be embarrassed to be on the staff right now, after what happened to Ole, they all should’ve gone.
“Whether they were sacked or went off their own back because they were part of Ole’s team.
“Ole trusted them each week to prepare and they’ve let the club and the players down just as much as Ole has.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3xilq0x
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