MADRID, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) — Manchester United qualified for the fourth round of the FA Cup with a narrow 1-0 win at home to Watford thanks to an early goal from Scott McTominay on Saturday evening.
McTominay scored a fifth-minute header as Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fielded a side filled with fringe players for their tie against the Championship side.
Arsenal needed two goals from Emile Smith-Rowe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to give them a 2-0 win at home to Newcastle United, whose coach Steve Bruce, had questioned the morality of playing in the middle of the ongoing pandemic.
Sam Allardyce’s start at West Brom continued to be difficult after his side was beaten 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw following 120 minutes of football away to Blackpool from League One. Burnley needed a 94th-minute equalizer to save themselves from defeat to MK Dons, before going through 4-3 on penalties.
Leicester City had far fewer problems as they brushed past Carabao Cup semi-finalists, Stoke City, 4-0 away from home, while Everton made hard work of Championship strugglers Rotherham with Abdoulaye Doucoure’s 93rd-minute winner giving Carlo Ancelotti’s side a 2-1 win.
Sheffield United won their first game of the season to progress into the fourth round after a 3-2 win away to Bristol Rovers: Jaydon Bogle netted the winner.
Fulham won a west London derby 2-0 away to Queens Park Rangers, although they needed extra-time goals from Bobby Reid and Neeskens Kebano to see off the motivated rival from the Championship.
The big shock of the day came thanks to Chorley FC from the National League North (sixth tier of the English league), who beat Derby County 2-0 with goals from Connor Hall and Mike Calveley.
Derby missed a host of first-team players with the coronavirus and fielded a team of youngsters. Aston Villa also played with juniors due to Covid-19 and they put up an impressive display before falling 4-1 at home to Liverpool.
There is a possibility of Manchester United replacing their entire midfield after a disastrous season that saw United miss out on Champions League football.
With Ander Herrera on the verge of joining Paris Saint Germain upon the expiry of his contract, Paul Pogba talking of joining his countryman Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid and Nemanja Matic aeging, they may have no other choice.
Despite the whole team requiring fresh blood, a midfield revamp would be a good start for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. So what will United midfield look like at the start of next season?
Scott McTominay’s form in the past few weeks has seen him get starts and praises from fans. And while some doubt his true quality, there can be no doubting his commitment to the red shirt, as an academy graduate.
McTominay has also earned the trust of manager Solskjaer meaning one way or the other, he will be around next season.
The 22-year-old has shown leadership credentials and even displayed a new-found eye for goal, enjoying a slightly more advanced role than he fulfilled under his former mentor, Jose Mourinho.
So whether in that box-to-box position, as a potential Herrera replacement, or deeper in the midfield when required, McTominay is sure to play a a good number of United’s games next season.
United fans have always bragged about having Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Fred’ within their ranks but next season could present new faces with at least two of these names set to leave.
Fred is most likely to remain at Old Trafford and could be built into the rounded defensive midfielder the team need. The £52 million signing struggled for the better part of the season, but there have instance of improvements and the team is hopeful he will develop into a complete product.
United also need to start looking beyond the ageing Matic, who has failed to hit his Chelsea 2014-15 form in a United shirt despite some good show, though with inconsistency.
The Pogba question
The biggest question United need to answer over the summer and the one that could shape the future of Solskjaer’s midfield is to keep Pogba, or to let him go?
There is no point keeping a player who has openly indicated he want to be in another club besides, Pogba has been inconsistent since his arrival from Juventus although was in electric form when Solskjaer arrived.
Club legend Paul Scholes slammed Pogba accusing him of living ‘in his own little fantasy world’.
“He thinks he is the big player, the one that needs to show people he is the best in the world and he doesn’t,” Scholes said.
“He just needs to play simple, he’s got teammates around him who should appreciate him and do appreciate him.”
If Real Madrid are ready to swoop, United should cash in and reinvest the money in other lacking departments. European football has exciting creative midfield options United have the muscles to buy if need be.
But if United want to keep the Frenchman, as they have intimated, Solskjaer must somehow help him rediscover his best form.
United must invest in the area they view as a priority.
If they don’t believe either Fred or Matic can do the job at the base of midfield, buy a holding midfielder. If they don’t believe McTominay is the best Herrera’s replacement, they need to buy. The same goes for replacing Pogba.
Fans talk about solving United’s defensive troubles and indeed adding goals to the forward line, but the midfield could be the biggest rebuilding job at Old Trafford this summer.
Big names such as Sanchez, Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Matic could be moved to create room for new arrivals as Solskjaer said some of the players are appearing for United for the last time.
“You are seeing some of these players for the last time in Manchester United colours,” Solskjaer said after the Huddersfield draw.
Rashford and Martial have been on the receiving end and are being accused of lack of commitment and disrespect for the badge and this could turn the fans against them.
“I used to like Rashford, but I no longer think he has the right attitude to play for Manchester United, I don’t value him. He should go,” said Lenny Owuor, an dejected United fan from East Africa.
Manchester United hopes of Champions League football evaporated after a lethargic draw at bottom club Huddersfield.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side saw any chance of a top four finish dashed as they registered another woeful display.
Luke Shaw’s horror mistake midway through the second half allowed Isaac Mbenza to fire home the crucial equaliser to Scott McTominay’s opener.
And now the club has nothing but pride to fight for against Cardiff next weekend as their season ends in turmoil.
Injuries have hit hard for Solskjaer in the past few weeks, so much so that he was only able to call upon Marcus Rashford as his loan striker from the start.
Alexis Sanchez got a rare start out wide on the left, with McTominay rewarded for looking sharp in training with a place in the midfield.
Both looked to justify their manager’s decision in the opening minutes as United took a grip on the game.
Sanchez was full of running and purpose in the opening minutes, causing problems in the Huddersfield defence.
McTominay opened the scoring eight minutes from the start with Huddersfield keeper Jonas Lossl playing a major part.
McTominay ran in the box nto and drilled a low shot with his left foot straight at Lossl, who then got his feet mixed up and allowed the ball to go past his knees into the net.
The Premier League’s worst side were there for the taking and United continued to take the game to them with Sanchez and Paul Pogba linking up well and making good runs from deep.
But at the end of first half, United the common mistakes started to arrive as the Terriers.
Phil Jones had already lost his man once and been saved by Victor Lindelof before he gave possession away just outside his own area.
And this time he was fortunate that David De Gea stood big to keep out Karlon Grant’s low shot.
Pogba then saw a header cannon back off the crossbar, but by the break there was already the whiff of trouble ahead for the visitors.
Sanchez had disappeared by the time he was substituted with an injury in the 53rd minute.
But worse was to follow on the hour mark when Shaw completely missed a long Lossl clearance to allow Mbenza in to score through the legs of De Gea.
In the end it wasn’t the massacre social media had predicted. The thrashing that the global anti-Man Utd legion was hoping Barcelona would hand us at Old Trafford never materialised.
Blaugruna’s world-famous firepower was neutered by our emerging midfield general, Scott ‘McTominator’ McTominay, and if our forwards had been more adventurous we would not be hoping for another miracle come Tuesday evening.
I harbour no illusions, but a win at Camp Nou is not out of question. With a little belief and purpose we can pull off another great Champions League escape.
But first we have to address some in-house issues.
Much has been said about the attitude of some of our key personnel over the last few games.
Paul Pogba’s performances, in particular, have been exasperating to watch. Coupled with the swirling rumours about his push for a move to Real Madrid in summer and the reported breakdown of relationship between him and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, maybe it’s time the club dealt with this matter once and for all.
If Pogba wants out so much he should use the remaining games to show his future employers what he is taking to Santiago Bernabeu. I will also add that there are better ways of going about it than poisoning the dressing room.
If things are bad as the British media are suggesting, then Ole should drop him with immediate effect and release him to complete his dream transfer.
Football prima donnas are a plague to the modern game and something that Man Utd can ill afford at this point in the season when everything seems to be heading south.
Players need to know that we need to win all the remaining games starting with West Ham Saturday.
Whether we are breezing past teams or grinding out results the hard way, every Man Utd player will know what is at stake and play for the badge.
The game against Barcelona showed us exactly where we stand. We have not fallen off the cliff as many have suggested, and we can dare to dream Saturday, Tuesday and beyond.