Manchester United claimed their second 1-0 win in their second league game under Ralf Rangnick. The Red Devils struggled for long stretches against bottom side Norwich, but were once again able to rely on Cristiano Ronaldo.
In his second league game in charge, Ralf Rangnick – in contrast to the Champions League match against Young Boys Bern last week – once again relied on his starting eleven at bottom side Norwich, with Bruno Fernandes, Sancho, Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo up front against the Canaries.
But in the first half, it wasn’t exactly a whirlwind. The hosts, who had four former Bundesliga players on the pitch in Kabak (ex-Schalke), Rupp (ex-Hoffenheim), Sargent (ex-Bremen) and Pukki (ex-Schalke), repeatedly attacked boldly, pressed high up and made life difficult for the Red Devils.
Unpleasant Canaries – CR7 misses out on lead
The Rangnick eleven hardly found any means, only a deflected free kick by Alex Telles against the crossbar (15th) provided some danger in the first half hour, on the other side Pukki was too surprised (29th), otherwise it could have been tight for de Gea.
United’s attacking play was somewhat unimaginative as most of the attacking activity came from individual actions. However, the only successful move almost resulted in the lead when Cristiano Ronaldo allowed Kabak and Giannoulis to slip past, but could not get past Krul with his left-footed shot (38th). Krul was also able to save Maguire’s header (45.+1) and the match went into the catacombs goalless.
Norwich miss promising chances – then comes CR7
Personally, neither coach changed anything at the break, but the game changed. Suddenly the Canaries were the better team, but Placheta (48.) and Pukki (57.) missed the surprise for the underdogs.
United didn’t really come up with anything offensively – but then CR7 once again made the difference. Aarons grabbed the 36-year-old hard during a cross, Ronaldo fell and got the penalty. The Portuguese himself stepped up and gave Krul no chance – 1:0 (75.).
Norwich didn’t give up and had two more good chances through Kabak (78th) and Gilmour (83rd), but it just wasn’t to be for the Premier League bottom team. Despite a good performance, Dean’s team came away empty-handed. ManUnited did not show much offensively, but managed to get the second minimalist 1:0 in a row under Rangnick. On Tuesday (20.30), the Red Devils host the next promoted team in Brentford.
