[ad_1]
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was frustrated by his team’s “sloppy start” but praised their “brilliant football” as they moved to sixth place in the Premier League with a comeback win over bottom line Sheffield United.
Marcus Rashford’s double ensured the visitors maintained their perfect away record in the Premier League this season, but it came after a terrifying start and a late scare.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, playing against his former club, gave the Blades a first goal after five minutes when forward Oliver Burke blocked their punt, allowing David McGoldrick to intervene.
John Fleck missed a glorious opportunity to make it 2-0, which proved costly as Solskjaer’s team dominated much of the game against the Blades without a win.
Rashford equalized after 26 minutes, his powerful shot from Victor Lindelof in the middle gave Aaron Ramsdale no chance.
Anthony Martial ended his 491-minute goal drought by receiving a pass from Paul Pogba and defeating Ramsdale on the second attempt.
And Rashford appeared to have made things comfortable nine minutes after the break by shooting under the Ramsdale jump after a quick counterattack.
But there was belated concern when McGoldrick headed from a corner for the hosts with three minutes to go, and Henderson then saved Lys Mousset’s shot.
“We played brilliant football between his first and second goals, the end was a bit awkward for my liking,” Solskjaer said.
“We never make it easy for ourselves. The beginning was sloppy and slow and this amazes me because we showed you videos and it happened again.
“It was a test for Dean after he made a mistake like this, but it passed with flying colors.”
The victory moves Manchester United one point behind fourth-ranked Leicester City, while Chris Wilder’s Blades have had the worst start to the season in top flight history after 13 games, and remain nine points behind safety. .
The days of absence continue to convince next to Solskjaer
Manchester United manager Solskjaer appears to have overcome the sticky streak that saw his position under pressure last month following losses to Arsenal and Istanbul Basaksehir.
They have since exited the Champions League, but after a slow start to their national campaign, their away form in the league has been a lifesaver.
The puzzling aspect is that, despite earning a sixth consecutive league win this season away from Old Trafford, in every game Solskjaer’s side has fallen behind. It’s almost as if they need an extra challenge to inspire them.
In this case, it was an unfortunate game between former Sheffield United players Henderson and Harry Maguire after five minutes, with the goalkeeper hesitating before Burke closed it out, allowing McGoldrick to score his third goal of the season.
For Henderson, who is trying to challenge David de Gea to be the first option in goal, it was a bad reflection of the player who had excelled on loan to the Blades for the previous two seasons.
But it seemed to galvanize the visitors, who could have scored four or five goals before the break. Rashford was their main torturer, ably supported by Bruno Fernandes and Pogba in midfield.
Once Martial finally made the roster, he helped prepare Rashford for his twelfth of the season to become United’s top scorer.
It capped off a perfect evening for the 23-year-old, who previously won an award from the FIFA Foundation in recognition of his inspiring charity to combat child poverty.
There were more chances for Martial and substitute Juan Mata to make the game safe, and in the end United relied on their defense to keep them ahead as the hosts mounted their late recovery.
Blades continues to show struggle despite his bad form
Despite another loss for the Blades, the 15th in 16 games dating back to last season, the noises coming out of the club this week have been positive.
Ahead of his 3-0 loss at Southampton on Sunday, Saudi owner Prince Abdullah said he would “stick with Wilder” whatever happens this season, while right-back George Baldock said the players had “100% of faith “in his coach.
In this match, Wilder lost none of his effervescence on the touchline, cajoling his players into responding when the visitors took control and sparking their last fight.
There was also an episode of finger pointing with Solskjaer when the two managers disagreed on Ethan Ampadu’s late challenge at Rashford.
But after the Blades took a lucky lead and then lost the chance to double it, the visitors found it easy to get through the home defense, and the difficult situation for the hosts was not helped by an early injury to midfielder Sander Berge.
They will regret the Red Devils’ third goal, which Ramsdale should have saved, especially as the tireless McGoldrick later got his fourth goal of the season straight from a corner before Henderson made up for his earlier mistake by saving Mousset well in death.
Despite scoring an unwanted eight-game losing streak in the league, and being outscored for much of the game by the Red Devils’ quick attacking game, the final 10 minutes showed Wilder’s team has not lost the appetite to compete even if your chances of staying already seem remote.
‘I don’t worry about my work’
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder speaking to BBC Sport: “I am happy with the way of the performance. Tonight it was about a performance, if I’m honest we needed one of the players and we asked some world class questions. “. players.
“I’m a free manager anyway, I don’t worry about what I can’t control. I don’t worry about my work. I keep coming to work and doing my best. There is a huge chasm, people don’t understand what it is about. Sheffield United when talking about the future of the people.
“I’ve been in the game long enough to know that question will be asked. There is a story in every club and we accept it.”
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: “We have good players and today we found the spaces behind them really well.
“He [Dean Henderson] dillied and entertained himself on the ball for the first goal. Today we saw the good and the bad of him because he made a great stop towards the end. “
Man Utd flying on the road – the statistics
Sheffield United have earned fewer points after their first 13 games of a league season than any other team in England’s top flight history (one)
Manchester United are the fourth team in England’s top flight history to record 10 consecutive league away victories, after Spurs (10 in 1960), Chelsea (11 in 2008) and Manchester City (11 in 2017). ).
They have now scored at least twice in 10 consecutive league games away from home, the longest career by a team in the top flight since the Spurs in October 1960 (also 10).
Manchester United became the third team in Premier League history to win their first six away games in a season, after Chelsea in 2008-09 and Manchester City in 2017-18.
In 26 home Premier League games since the start of last season, Sheffield United have only conceded three or more goals twice, both against Manchester United.
Having made just one mistake that led directly to a goal in 36 Premier League appearances for Sheffield United last season, Dean Henderson made the first after just three appearances for Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford has five goals in six away games in the Premier League this season, as many as he did in 16 away appearances in the competition last season.
Rashford has scored 43 goals for Ole Gunnar Solskaer in all competitions, the most of any Manchester United player under a single manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
David McGoldrick’s first goal for Sheffield United was his first open-play goal in the Premier League since 4 October against Arsenal.
Whats Next?
Sheffield United will visit Brighton on Sunday (12:00 GMT), while Manchester United host Leeds United later that day (16:30).
