Just when
A 2-1 home loss to last-place Sheffield United not only prevented Man United from returning to first place at the expense of fierce rival Manchester City. It also undid much of the impressive work Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team has produced in recent months, exposing its lack of depth and defensive frailties in an alarming 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
“We're surprised,” Solskjaer said after United's first loss in the league since
Suddenly, it's advantage Man City in a title race that has ebbed and flowed all season. City, which has won its last seven games, leads by a point from United and has a game in hand over its neighbour around the halfway stage.
A series of defensive blunders led to Sheffield United's deflected 74th-minute winner — scored by
That's two victories in three league matches for
Now, the gap to safety is only 10 points and the so-called “great escape” could be on.
“We have had to play near-perfect from our point of view against world-class players and a team that is flying high," Wilder said. “All season we have had pretty tight games and not come out the right side. We took our big moments.”
SLOPPY UNITED
Man United's players have made a habit of coming from behind to win games in the league — they have done so seven times, all away from home — but they came up short this time against Sheffield United, conceding a winning goal Solskjaer described as “so poor, so sloppy.”
Goalkeeper
That gave Sheffield United the lead for the second time, with
Solskjaer rotated his squad by fielding Tuanzebe, United's fourth-choice centre back, and Telles while resting central midfielders Fred and Scott McTominay, who have been instrumental to United's unbeaten three-month run in the league.
“It’s time to stand up and be counted because it’s easy when you are winning football matches," Maguire said. "When you lose it is about how quickly you bounce back.”
United next plays away to Arsenal on Saturday.
TUCHEL'S DEBUT
A new 3-4-2-1 formation. A funky deployment of some players, including two No. 10s and a forward in
In a game that highlighted the size of the job facing Tuchel following his arrival Tuesday as
Tuchel, who took charge of just one training session ahead of the game, said he was “very happy with what I saw.”
“I liked the attitude and energy," he said, "and I just told the team that I will not allow anybody to doubt from here.”
Still,
“I’m absolutely sure we have the capacity to hurt everybody in every league and competition," Tuchel said, "and it’s my job to bring evidence of that as fast as possible.”
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