Returning to the Carabao Cup arena, Manchester United recreated the final match of last season by welcoming Newcastle United this morning. After the disastrous defeat in the Manchester derby, obviously, Red Devils fans expected an impressive match to dispel the gloomy atmosphere at Old Trafford. But, in the end, things got even worse.
Coach Erik Ten Hag has made quite a few changes in terms of personnel, especially putting two key players, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, on the bench. However, Man Utd still showed a poor face and had to concede two goals in the first half. Very quickly, Ten Hag brought Bruno and Rashford onto the field in the second half, along with three other changes. However, the Red Devils still cannot avoid a defeat.
Man Utd continues to be destroyed.
Instead of finding an equalizer, Man Utd had to concede another goal and continue to experience defeat with a difference of 3 goals. If you look at the parameters, Ten Hag’s team actually created a quite positive match, slightly better than the away team in terms of number of shots and ball control rate. However, once again individual mistakes “killed” the Old Trafford team. Among them, perhaps the biggest “sinner” is the case of Diogo Dalot.
It’s easy to see that Man Utd’s right wing was continuously penetrated by Newcastle players in the first half. Obviously, this is a consequence of Dalot’s poor defensive ability and he even made mistakes in the first two goals. After allowing Miguel Almiron to comfortably pass and open the score for Newcastle, Dalot failed again when he fought a duel with Joe Willock on the ball, leading to a situation where Lewis Hall doubled the gap.
Entering the second half, it was not surprising that Dalot was quickly withdrawn from the field to make room for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Even in his first match after injury, Wan-Bissaka was able to deliver an impressive performance, and can absolutely be considered a rare bright spot for Man Utd. From the moment the former Crystal Palace star entered the field, it was clear that Man Utd’s right wing had increased its steel and became significantly more solid.
Wan-Bissaka brings improvement to Man Utd.
Data from Fotmob shows that Wan-Bissaka achieved a success rate of tackles and duels of up to 100%, in addition to 6 ball recovery situations in the last match. At the same time, he also left his mark on the offensive front with 2 passes that created scoring opportunities. With a score of 7.1, Wan-Bissaka is the player with the highest score from Fotmob on Man Utd’s side, completely worthy considering what this defender has shown on the field.
Currently, the contract extension between Wan-Bissaka and Man Utd has come to a standstill, but after the match this morning, it is clear that The Red Devils need to quickly complete this deal as soon as possible. Against Newcastle, Man Utd really re-realized the importance of Wan-Bissaka, something they probably forgot during the time he was out due to injury. Obviously, it would be a big loss for the Red Devils if they lost the English star at this time.
Huynh Phong | 09:29 November 2, 2023
