Liverpool poor, United poorer
Even before our game kicked off, a beautiful thing had happened. Manchester United lost 2-1 away at Midtjylland (yes I'm using copy and paste but try spelling that every few words). It's impossible not to hear that news and get a wonderful warm feeling of joy in my heart at that, as Memphis Depay's goal was overturned by two from the home side. Yes, they were missing key players, including keeper De Gea and Wayne Rooney (so basically two of only three or four players that they have that are really top class, if you can still put Rooney in that category) but this was still an embarrassing display from United, capped off by a goal from Paul Onuachu 13 minutes from time that consigned them to defeat.
Overall, United had more possession and more shots, but really failed to create much in the way of clean cut chances, with only Lingard's volley against the bar to shout about in the game after taking the lead, only to be pegged back before half time through Sisto. Midtjylland created all the chances in truth and Romero, in for the injured De Gea, made three top saves to keep United in the game. When you factor in the fact that Midtjylland haven't played for 71 days since they're on winter break, United will be really disappointed.
That said, 2-1 away from home is far from a disaster, they have an away goal to play with and should win (if not easily) at Old Trafford to progress.
We, meanwhile, were not significantly better than United, although we were rock solid defensively and played a relatively smart game that was sadly lacking in cutting edge. Personally, I thought we played reasonably well, but the lack of end product was disappointing, especially with Coutinho looking sharp. But in truth, a lot of credit has to go to the Augsburg backline who marshalled a returning Daniel Sturridge well and when Sturridge was replaced with Origi with a quarter of the game to go, we lost something up top.
That said, there were plenty of positives from the game, not least an excellent defensive performance from the pairing of Sakho and Toure. It's always good to see our returning players get plenty of game time and come through unscathed and Coutinho continues to look sharp. Milner had a decent game and he's starting to really form an understanding with Firmino, although the latter was largely disappointing.
Speaking of disappointing, Jordan Henderson continued his poor run of form in the middle of midfield, with no real incision or bombasticity from the captain, and a lack of creativity from the centre of midfield. And Alberto Moreno put in another poor performance, with some really shocking decision making from him. On the other flank, Clyne had some good moments but nothing spectacular.
Overall though, despite a lack of incision in the final third, this was a really solid away performance. There were only one or two moments where we looked slightly nervy at the back, Sakho put in a monstrous performance, Coutinho and Sturridge are regaining fitness and look very sharp and there's more chemistry in our midfield. This was a really tough away game and no draw away from home in Europe is ever a bad result, although this could certainly be classified as a disappointing one.
And meanwhile, Spurs put in a solid away performance to also draw away from home in Europe, although their 1-1 draw against Fiorentina has the added bonus of an away goal to take back to London, with Nacer Chadli scoring from the spot in the first half. Spurs, unlike United and Liverpool, made plenty of changes as they have a big FA Cup game at the weekend and are still fighting on three fronts. And a good performance and a good result for them, although they'll be slightly disappointed to have conceded in the manner that they did and not held on for a crucial away win.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Anya Shrubsole starred as England beat SA by 15 runs.
- And Sarah Taylor also put in a stunning performance.
- Our thoughts are with Matt Dawson. Must be really tough.
- Will Stevens got dropped by Manor. Ouch.
- Gary Neville's Valencia won 6-0. Yes. Really.
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