‘It was all going good until we conceded the first goal’ was the general tone of an irate Van Gaal press conference after a 3-0 defeat to title-chasing Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. It does, in truth – apart from a nearly superhuman effort involving Martial leaving four defenders in their wake to force a good save off Hugo Lloris, for what in the end was an insipid defeat, show how low the standards have dropped at the Manchester club.
It’s a result that has put a dent in United’s pursuit to reach the top four come May – with City now holding on to a four-point advantage including a superior goal difference. Man United started the game better than most people would have expected them to, after turning up late owing to traffic problems and a shorter warm-up was thought to play into players’ minds even before the ball was kicked. Thankfully, United were the better side at White Hart Lane in the first quarter or so, though typically unable to translate possession and control into chances and goals.
A cagey first half was followed by a substitution that saw a not fully match fit winger Ashley Young take Marcus Rashford’s place up top on his own, which took ‘baffling’ to a new level at Manchester United. Ashley Young understandably looked like a fish out of water, clearly struggled to time his runs to perfection and understandably so, ended up second best in every aerial duel, second ball – and handed over the impetus to the home side who were starting to get into the game by then.
Shots Attempted by Both Sides
United’s only shot on target would come in the 62nd minute when Anthony Martial, struggling to live up to the mediocre standards set by his fellow teammates, breathed to life, when he slalomed past four defenders to fire the ball straight at Lloris who, otherwise, had a relaxed evening in goal. A Tottenham Hotspur onslaught would follow Martial’s attempt – three goals in under six minutes – that would seal the fate and three points in favour of the North London outfit to keep the race for the title alive and kicking.
Chances Created by Both Sides
The worrying statistic again is how unthreatening the away side were even on the break when the opportunities presented themselves. Both sides managed to successfully complete only 73% of passes – yet Spurs had created about thrice (13) as many chances as United (4) and the visitors almost played like they were a man short for most of the second half. The result was a huge negative but the nature of that performance in that second half will have been the bigger disappointment for the Dutchman now and things should change very quickly as games come thick and fast between now and May.
Besides Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s matured display, there was nothing for travelling United supporters to shout about. Strangely enough, the Red Devils still have something to play for, in the form of an FA Cup quarter final replay in midweek, which is absolutely crucial in terms of how they could finish the season. Having scored only 39 goals in 32 games so far in the league (worst in the Premier League era), it has been a rather difficult 10-month period for United fans to endure. But with four of the final six fixtures to be played at Old Trafford where they have had their best results this campaign, I, for one, am inclined to believe the race for fourth cannot be over yet.
