United relieved Erik ten Hag’s pressure with a crucial 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag earned a crucial victory thanks to goals from Scott McTominay and Cole Palmer, who leveled the score for Chelsea in the first half.
A win would have been a huge boost to United’s Premier League hopes.
Five key takeaways from the match-winning triumph at Old Trafford.
McTominay scored again
Despite all the nitpicking that went on before the game about McTominay starting for United against Chelsea, the midfielder found the back of the net twice with clever finishes, bringing his season total to six goals.
Some were concerned that the Red Devils could waste another half of their promising play when Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty and Robert Sanchez made a brilliant diving save, but the academy graduate came through.
After a spectacular cross from Alejandro Garnacho, the second goal was another striker’s finish—he snuck in like a ghоst and headed the ball into the top corner of the net.
As long as the Scottish midfielder keeps scoring in clutch situations, Kobbie Mainoo will continue to start games for Manchester United, regardless of whether he should have started or not.
United’s defense let them down once more
Although the game was a tҺrilling spectacle, it’s easy to see why Ten Hag, who is always calling for control, would have been uttеrly frustrated by the game’s extreme lack of it.
Andre Onana made a great save from Nicolas Jackson, and Mykhailo Mudryk nearly scored for Mauricio Pochettino’s team, but his low shot went just wide of the near post.
Cole Palmer scored the game-winning goal for the Blues with a low shot that beаt Onana at the far post. The West London club may have felt they deserved more after that.
To the joy of the Dutchman, the Red Devils did show an improvement in this area throughout the second half.
Remarkable Alejandro Garnacho continues to wow
When the team announcement broke an hour before kickoff, removing Marcus Rashford from the starting lineup would have raised some eyebrows.
After scoring 30 goals for Manchester United last season, some may have thought it was a mistake to bench the Englishman, but Garnacho proved everyone wrong.
Marc Cucurella appeared exhausted during the match, yet the Argentine managed to win many times. Garnacho continued to dominate the Chelsea skipper even when Reece James came on as a substitute.
The adolescent will, justifiably, start games for Ten Hag as long as he keeps performing and tҺrilling.
Impressing Sofyan Amrabat
There was a lot of fanfare when United opted to loan Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina, but the Moroccan has been slacking off for the last three months.
While Mainoo was thriving, Amrabat was teetering precariously on Marcel Sabitzer’s zone in terms of loan signings; but, he demonstrated his mettle today.
With 71% success in ground duels, Amrabat was a constant threаt whenever Chelsea launched a cоunterattack, despite the seeming abundance of space in the Chelsea midfield.
Its implications for United
United are presently in sixth place, a just three points behind fourth-place Manchester City, after to their victory over Chelsea, which temporarily relieves pressure on Ten Hag.
It will be critical for United to gain momentum before their upcoming match at Old Trafford against the Cherries if they want to win that tough game against an in-form Bournemouth team.
Following the challenging home game, United will face a flurry of encounters, the most notable of which being matches against Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Bayern Munich. Ten Hag may have a pivotal December.