Manchester United was once again held despite taking the lead at halftime. First Middlesborough in the FA Cup tie, Burnley in the midweek and yesterday against a promising Southampton side. The worries don’t seem to end for Rangnicks’s reds. United came to the match with high expectations at Old Trafford hoping that the home cheer could lift up their spirits. But now the top 4 hopes are slightly getting dented.
Manchester United vs Southampton Analysis
First Half
The Reds started things brightly as they were knocking on the doors quite frequently in the opening 10′ but it’s always their finishing that has led us down on many occasions.
Ronaldo had the best and easiest chance to open the scoring account but a desperate goal-line clearance by Perraud denied the Portuguese veteran. And the frustration continues for him as he is into his 8 matches without a goal. The longest drought since 2009.
In the 21′ Jadon Sancho finally gave United the lead in front of the home crowd. It was a beautiful crafted counter-attacking goal. Bruno gave a wonderful long pass to Rashford who drove forward down the right flank and finally a superb cross to find Sancho.
Another chance came at 8′ from Sancho but it was wasted again. Play-making decision is completely pathetic for United these days. The score should have been 3-0 quite easily at halftime. Meanwhile, Southampton had not made much impact in the first half. But in 2nd second it was completely a different team.
Second Half
Che Adams equalised within the opening 3′ of the 2nd half. A lovely finish to the bottom right corner which De Gea failed to keep that out. Maguire was once on the list of criticism. A poor positional marking and lack of pace to beat Adams set that goal for the Saints.
Ronaldo made another good chance look difficult when a lovely long pass from Luke Shaw was fed at the 61st minute of the play. Individualism is what killing this particular club nowadays. He could have easily passed that to Rashford who was well onside and unmarked.
Manchester United has another home game this week against the Sea Gulls and it will be a tough contest against Graham Potter’s side. They are playing exceptionally well this season.
