Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may be facing uncomfortable days again. Manchester United went down 4-1 at relegation candidates Watford after a dismal first half and are in danger of sinking into the mediocrity of the table.
After significant home defeats to their biggest rivals Liverpool (0-5) and Manchester City (0-2), Solskjaer had kept his job as United coach before the international break despite immense pressure from outside. Will the Glazer family accept this performance? At promoted Watford FC, United (with Sancho in the starting eleven) delivered a very weak first half, reared its head briefly after the changeover – and went down completely in the end. The Red Devils have already dropped to 7th place in the table. And the trend is downwards.
De Gea saves two penalties from Sarr
After a sleepy opening few minutes, United had actually received two wake-up calls of the highest volume. After a Fernandes cross in front of his own penalty area, McTominay had knocked King down as he fell. De Gea saved Sarr’s weakly taken penalty kick before Kiko Femenia put the follow-up shot into the goal (8th). But because the Spaniard (as well as some United players) had entered the penalty area too early, the penalty was retaken. Again de Gea, who is not really known as a penalty killer, saved against Sarr (11th).
However, two saved penalties were not enough to give the English record champions any confidence. Defensively, United continued to act in a completely unsafe manner. After a header by Wan-Bissaka in his own penalty area, ex-Cologne player Dennis set up King – 1:0 (28.). The former Gladbach player missed two more chances (37/40). Shortly before the break, Sarr added to his tally with a strong finish from the right corner of the penalty area – and as he celebrated, he apologised to the fans for his penalty miss (44th). After a desolate first 45 minutes, ManUnited, whose only chance came from Rashford’s challenge on goalkeeper Foster, were well served by a 2-0 deficit at the break.
Van de Beek not only brings the connecting goal – Maguire’s unnecessary sending-off
Solskjaer brought on Martial as well as van de Beek for the second half – which paid off: After a strong cross from Sancho, Ronaldo headed in for the Dutchman, who headed in from close range to make it 1:2 (50th). United now had their strongest phase, in which van de Beek repeatedly shone with strong passes from the centre and Sancho was also conspicuous on the right. But Fernandes (55.) was just as unlucky as Ronaldo, who shot free in front of Foster over the goal (58.) and headed over from a promising situation (76.).
However, United were already outnumbered when they had the chance to head the ball over. Maguire, who had already been cautioned, received a totally unnecessary yellow card when he dribbled against Cleverley in front of his own penalty area, put the ball too far in front of him and then knocked the former United professional down (69). United ran out of time and in injury time Solskjaer’s side suffered a bitter defeat as substitute Joao Pedro (first Premier League goal) and Dennis made it 4-1.
On Tuesday, United take on Villarreal in the Champions League. In the Premier League, they then travel to leaders Chelsea FC on Sunday. First, however, there is likely to be a lot of discussion about the coach’s personnel.
