1. Two weeks ago, Fulham had a man sent off in the first half against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and lost only 1-0. After the match, Lampard commented that it is not easy against 10 men. Plenty of times it is really not easy. Southampton started the game badly at Old Trafford and had a man sent off after two minutes for a dangerous tackle on McTominay. Thankfully, Scott shrugged the tackle off and played the whole 90 minutes. After finding themselves a man up so early, United took advantage and played some incisive attacking football. We kept the tempo high throughout the first half, shifted the ball from one flank to the other and scored very good goals. With the score 4-0 at half time, the game was won and lost and in the second half, although the pace of the game fell, United were still good enough to score another five goals to climb level again with City at the top, albeit with two more games played.
2. Ahead of the match against the Saints, United trailed Liverpool by nine goals in goal difference and City by fourteen. As we all know, the Premiership can be won by goal difference in case of the top teams are locked on the same number of points. So United had to do something about it and as the game developed, today was the perfect opportunity. Being four up at half time and having to make two substitutions for the second half, the question was whether we would be disciplined and hungry enough to eat away the deficit we had in goal difference to the teams around us. The answer was an emphatic yes and climbing on the same goal difference with Liverpool and within five goals adrift of City is almost worth an extra point in the table. Fantastic result at the end.
3. Nine goals and seven different goal scorers. Martial was the only player that scored two and the rest of the goals were spread across the team, which is always good news for Ole. The only disappointment of the night is probably the fact that Mason Greenwood failed to hit the back of the net, despite having a few shots which he took well but did not manage to beat McCarthy in the Saints’ goal. He would be the first to be disappointed and it could be a worry for Ole if his goal drought persists. Strikers feed on goals and the more time passes without scoring, the more pressure will build up on him. Mason’s performance against Southampton was excellent. He managed to get into good positions in and around the opponents’ penalty area, had a few shots on goal which McCarthy saved and also came up with an assist for Rashford’s goal. He looked sharp when he had the ball and his footwork was different class. He needs more time on the pitch however and hopefully he will get on the scoresheet in no time at all. If Ole gets Mason firing again, he will be like a new addition in the second half of the season. And what an addition!!
Looking forward to receiving your thoughts on the Facebook page. GGMU
Article contributed by Contributor Roderick. Comments are appreciated on our Facebook page.