It wasn’t quite the 4–3 we’ve seen on five occasions from United this season but it was (worryingly) not far off.
Erik ten Hag watched on as his side managed to make perhaps the most ‘gimme’ of games harder than it should’ve been.
After the events of the FA Cup final, the under fire Dutchman would’ve wanted to see his team achieve victory in the most simplest of manners.
Hold my beer is what his players thought, or at least that’s the way it appeared.
United had other plans on the field as they couldn’t find the back of the net and decided to gift two silly goals to Sheffield making this game much more treacherous than it needed to be.
The home side started off well with a shot from Diogo Dalot (the right-back who was playing at left-back for this match) which required a decent save by Sheffield’s goalkeeper. That set the tone. A good tone.
United then dominated for the next half hour or so creating several great opportunities that they would be kicking themselves for not taking even more so after gifting the lead to the visitors.
Alejandro Garnacho had a couple of his chances saved as ‘keeper Wes Foderingham looked to be having one of those nights.
His opposite number in the other goal decided that it was too easy for him and MUFC as Andre Onana played a terrible pass (or attempted pass) to Dalot which turned out to be a decent assist for Jayden Bogle who ended up scoring at the near post after being in one-on-one.
0–1 at home to Sheffield when it ought to have been 2–0 😐.
Worries were quenched as we didn’t have to wait long for a response as our only available centre-back (and ex-Sheffield player) Harry Maguire got the equalizer just 7 minutes later after a delightful cross by Garnacho.
While there was a VAR check for offside, the goal stood giving Maguire his second in two games and United a lifeline.
It wasn’t ideal, but at least we went into the break level.
But just 5 minutes into the second half, 1–2. In form striker for the Blades Bereton Diaz scores a pretty simple finish from around the penalty spot after a cutback from their left. There was no MUFC player near him. All our defenders went towards the touch line for some reason.
The worries returned, not least for ten Hag.
But much like the first equalizer, Erik ten Hag didn’t have to wait long for his side to get back into the game, again.
United were awarded a penalty despite the ball actually making its way into the net, but with Fernandes on duty, you might as well just give the goal anyway and get on with it.
He scored it emphatically into the bottom right-hand corner making it 2–2 and scoring his 6th goal in five games. With 30 minutes remaining, a mighty push was needed for the 3 points.
There was yet another scare though, as Diaz had a shot that took a wicked deflection off Maguire which saw it scrape the outside of the post and narrowly missing out on Sheffield taking the lead for the THIRD time.
I don’t know whether we would’ve been able to come back from that.
Luckily we didn’t have to fret over a third Sheffield goal as we got one of our own to give us the lead for the first time in the match.
Bruno Fernandes coming up clutch again as he fired a wonderful left-foot strike from 20–25 yards out to make it 3–2.
But it wasn’t over there as Rasmus Hojlund got his first goal in six games making 4–2 in the 85th minute with some breathing space between the sides.
This is how it remained until the end. Thank goodness we managed to hold out with no issues.
Relief at the final whistle as that game was much more difficult than it should’ve been.
Erik ten Hag would’ve been happy with a lot of what he saw as his players did play some good simple football. They kept it on the ground, were patient, rotated it whenever necessary with the only problem being scoring.
Yes, the two goals to concede were silly and while there was a bit of angst and panic from his side for a period at being behind, they managed to regain their composure and go again (twice) before eventually getting the win.
The overall performance was good but he will be disappointed with the way the goals were conceded. It’s that lack of focus that he was questioned about in his press conference that was an issue again tonight.
But that is now two wins in two for him and United which can hopefully gather some momentum heading into the final five games of the league.
Ratings:
Onana — 5
AWB — 6
Casemiro — 6
Maguire — 7
Dalot — 7
Eriksen — 5
Mainoo — 6
Antony — 6
Bruno — 8 MOTM
Garnacho — 6.5
Hojlund — 6.5
Amad — 6
McTominay — 5
Amrabat — 6
Wheatly — 6
Erik ten Hag — 6
Final Thoughts
Not the way I thought the game would go. Don’t actually know why I didn’t think it will be difficult because that seems to be the way with us at the moment. I do think this is how it will be for the remainder of the campaign though: not easy.
I suppose all’s well that ends well but why do we make it hard for ourselves is the question.
Let’s just try and keep the momentum for the next few games moving into the FA Cup final.
Yanited ✊! Yanited ✊! Yanited ✊!
Background image: Bruno Fernandes | Image credit: Getty Images via Eurosport