English Premier League giants Manchester United defeated Cypriot Omonia Nicosia in their recent Europa League tie.
Despite the fact that United had a much superior squad, the Red Devils defeated their opponents, their performance was far from ideal. He conceded a goal in the first part of the game and returned to the locker room a goal behind.
In the second half, United manager Erik ten Hag made two changes. the Dutch manager brought in Marcus Rahsford in place of Jordan Sancho and Luke Shaw in place of Tyrell Malacia. This changed the whole dimension of the game.
Rashford equalized in the 53rd minute with a superb shot. He then assisted Anthony Martial’s goal before scoring the second in the 84th minute. United’s defense looked much better than in the first half and the Red Devils cruised to a 3-2 victory over their Cypriot counterpart.
Manchester United duo of Shaw and Rashford may return
The Red Devils signed Tyrell Malacia at the beginning of the season. He made his debut for the Red Devils against Brighton and then backed it up with a spirited second-half performance against Brentford. In both games he came on as a substitute but the performances he gave were better than those of the starters.
Therefore, he was given the role of starting left-back in United’s defence. However, at Manchester City he had a very poor performance and then had another one in his last outing against Omonia Nicosia.
He was substituted in both games and his substitute Luke Shaw did well in limited time. Shaw was actually coming back from injury and was out for a while. So performances like that have boosted his morale.
When Jadon Sancho arrived at Manchester United, there was quite a stir around the English winger. But he so far he hasn’t managed to deliver much. Although this season has improved his performance, he is far from his days in the Bundesliga. Sancho’s production in the last two games has been much lower. So along with Malacia and rightly so he was criticized by his manager.
It seems that both Sancho and Malacia have lost their place in the team. And we’re going to see Shaw and Rashford take their places in the next couple of games. Rashford has mainly played as a striker this season so far. Under ten Hag has regained his lost form and is now United’s biggest threat in attack.
However, the 24-year-old English striker has played his best football in the left-back position. And his association with Shaw in those days was really cool. Shaw is gradually getting back into shape as well.
The duo know each other’s game very well. There is great chemistry between them. So if ten Hag can get the best football out of him, he will solve the left wing problem for him. The first test of him will be the next Everton match.
