Manchester United’s four-match winning streak came to an end when they suffered a disappointing 0-1 loss in their first Europa League game against Real Sociedad at home.
Before the game, a flawless minute of silence was observed before the game in a moving tribute to Her Majesty The Queen.
VAR has been the cause of many controversies in the Premier League and a similar situation was now seen in the match at Old Trafford when the visitors were awarded a penalty decision in their favor despite it being blatantly incorrect.
But that can’t be an excuse for the Red Devils not to score a single goal. In fact, they didn’t even make the opposing goalkeeper work for a clean sheet.
Erik ten Hag decided to make a number of changes and Casemiro eventually started alongside fellow Brazilians Fred and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Boos from many #mufc fans. The penalty was ridiculous, but it shouldn’t mask a poor and disjointed performance from United. Some strange calls from Ten Hag: Fred as a 10 and Eriksen off in HT as perplexing as the VAR confirming the penalty decision.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) September 8, 2022
However, the drop in quality over the weekend was noticeable with personnel changing too slow to react to second balls and generally lacking that sharpness and bite.
One of the most disappointing performances came from Fred. The midfielder took over the number 10 role in the first half, but he was chaotic on the ball.
midfield problems
He also did not improve in the second half and will have no complaints when he takes his place on the bench for the game against Crystal Palace.
Casemiro was bought for a lot of money, but on Thursday he seemed off the pace and his passing was far from accurate. No wonder Ten Hag has favored Scott McTominay thus far.
Ronaldo, who had wanted to leave to join a Champions League club, looked like a shadow of the player who holds the record for most goals in the elite European competition.
He had the ball in the back of the net in the first half, only to see it ruled out for offside.
The game will only further strengthen Ten Hag’s determination to keep playing the same team in the league. What will be of concern to the coach is how far off the pace the team of his choice looked during the 90 minutes despite the obvious gap in quality.
Sociedad wanted victory more and now United cannot afford any more setbacks if they want to advance further in the competition.
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