Pre-match notes: Rooney started in his natural position at striker, Paddy McNair started at right back, and Fellaini started in the midfield. Falcao remained on the bench for the duration of the game.
It was a game that symbolizes much of how the season has felt for Manchester United fans. United dominated possession and had more chances but failed to capitalize. In the first half, United scored on the result of a beautiful run of passes. Herrera got a lucky deflection after a nice lay off pass to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Great play from Luke Shaw to get up the flank with his pace and cause problems for the Swansea back line. Things looked bright for the United squad, with Rooney and van Persie linking up better and being more involved than the other striker pairings that have been used this season. Herrera was working well at both ends of the pitch, having also cleared a shot off the goal line, as proved by goal-line technology.
Swansea answered just a minute later with a nice cross from Shelvey into Ki for the equalizing goal. It looked like a nice play, but Shaw really lost his mark on the goal. That was pretty much the story of the first half for the United defending, Swansea players finding too much space in the box and Gomis being able to dominate the defenders.
At half time, Valencia came on for Paddy McNair, who was having a rough go at it in only his third start at right back for the senior team. Valencia provided more pace down that side and really increased the attacking options for United. The marking from the United defense continued to be poor, however, with Shaw again letting Ki get past. On the attacking end, Rooney was playing exceptionally well in his natural position having played in a deeper midfield position recently.
United had a dominant spell to open the second half, with plenty of chances. Fellaini did well to hold up the ball and distribute to other players moving forward. It seems like van Gaal knows how to utilize Fellaini's talents, which is ironic because Moyes had played Fellaini in a deeper midfield role last season even though he had worked with Fellaini for years at Everton. Fellaini is able to tower over other players to put the ball back into the danger area.
Through a combination of strong defense and poor finishing, Swansea weathered the storm to go on to counter and take the lead. After an errant pass, Shelvey had a strike on goal that deflected off of Gomis' head, leaving de Gea helpless. The play, a quick counter from the opposition leaving the defense stranded, has been all too familiar for United fans this season. From then on, United would force the attack by playing long balls into Fellaini and hoping a chance would present itself. In recent games when United has been losing, this technique has worked well, but for this game it just didn't go to plan. Swansea was too strong in defense and United couldn't equalize, leading to the 2-1 loss.
It's frustrating to watch United dominate possession so well only to still lose the game. It was a combination of bad luck in the go-ahead goal for Swansea and not capitalizing on opportunities. Credit to Swansea though for playing a great game, it's the first time they've completed the double against United, having already won back in the season opener at Old Trafford.
Update: As Louis van Gaal stated in his post match press conference: "We played well today, we just forgot to score." United drop to 4th in the table for now as Arsenal move up the table and Southampton in 5th with a game tomorrow against Liverpool.
Up next for United is a matchup against Sunderland, a game which United fans will hope United will win easily. That remains to be seen, however.
I thought McNair played pretty well
ReplyDeleteThis game I felt he was exposed trying to defend Gomis and on the cross that led to the Ki goal. He does play well going forward though, but I think van Gaal was looking for a better attacking option in Valencia at the half. Paddy has a bright future though, no doubt about that.
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