In the 24th round of the Premier League, Manchester United sat at Home at Old Trafford to meet Southampton, Sancho grabbed the point to open the record for the Red Devils, but the Saints equalized in the second half of the blitzkrieg, the two sides were 1-1, Manchester United suffered two consecutive Premier League draws, three consecutive draws in all competitions. In the league table, although Manchester United chased West Ham, but because of the goal difference of 5 goals, it could only rank fifth, missing the top four.
Manchester United centre-forward Edmundo Edgar Cavani was not included in the squad, Ronaldo returned to the starting line-up and youngster Hannibal Megerbury was added to the bench. Lonnick still used a 433 formation, with De Gea keeping the goal, Diogu Dalo, Varane, Maguire and Luke Shaw forming the defensive line, McTomine, Pogba and Bruno Fernandez in midfield, and Rashford, Ronaldo and Sancho joining forces in the forward line.
"I decided to start today for Cristiano (Ronaldo) and Edinson (Cavani) had a problem in his groin after training last night and was still unable to play after receiving treatment, so Hannibal was on the Premier League roster for the first time." Lonnick explains, "If Cristiano scores, of course it's good, but whoever scores, winning the game is the key."
'I've worked with Hasenhuttel for two years and I know very well the way Southampton plays, they deserve to win against Tottenham, so we know very well that this is a top opponent and we have to keep up the first half against Burnley, but not just 45 minutes or 75 minutes, but 94 minutes, 95 minutes.
In the 7th minute, Sancho sent a straight shot to Cristiano Ronaldo, who pushed the empty goal past the goalkeeper, but was saved by defender Perro's goal line. Southampton striker Che Adams faced an empty goal in front of goal, but slipped under his feet into a header to clear the line, Sancho then counter-attacked, but he did not distribute it in time for the middle and was eventually shoveled by Bednarek.
In the 21st minute, United broke the deadlock with a quick counter-attack when a long pass from the back found Rashford on the right, who carried a cross to the bottom line, and the ball collided with Sancho and Kyle Walker-Peters at the back post and flew into the net after a series of collisions, Manchester United 1-0 Southampton.
Although it was Peters who touched the ball last, the Premier League officially counted the goal in Sancho's name, which was his first Premier League goal at home at Manchester United. He has scored 2 goals in his last 3 games, tying the previous 23 games.
Although Southampton were behind, their passing combination was quite fluid, forcing United's only defensive back, Scott McTomine, to turn yellow and fall into passivity. In the 40th minute, De Gea flew in to catch Armstrong's volley. De Gea then fell to the ground and volleyed down per way to Pero's low shot from the left. Before half-time, Cristiano Ronaldo assisted Pogba to break the goal, but the offside was blown off first. In the pouring rain, the two sides ended the first half, and Manchester United temporarily led 1-0.
Just two minutes into the second half, United's defensive position was wrong, Southampton's Tariq Elyunusi went straight through the Red Devils' right side of the defence, Che Adams pushed the far corner from a small angle against the offside, and the ball bounced into the net after hitting the far upright, Manchester United 1-1 Southampton.
Southampton's attack overwhelmed United, with De Gea flying to save Armando Broya's long-range shot. Manchester United captain Harry Maguire received a free kick on the left, but unfortunately the angle was too right and was cleared by the goalkeeper. Ronaldo and Dallow fired powerful shots from the left and right inside the penalty area, which were also saved by goalkeeper Foster. In a corner kick, Pogba's upside-down golden hook was deflected out. The Saints also had a chance, armstrong was left undefended on the right, thanks to his powerful shot soaring, Broia broke through Maguire and faced De Gea's cross, and the Manchester United defender preemptively released the box.
Fernandez's free-kick from the right was driven into the box and Cristiano Ronaldo snatched the penalty, but Manchester United had as many as 5 offside and VAR confirmed that the goal was invalid. In the 75th minute, Lonnick replaced McTomine with Elanga to change to 442, and Pogba was responsible for the midfield defense. Jesse Lingard also took command to replace Marcus Rashford.
There was a controversial scene on the pitch, and Maguire stomped on Broa's calf in the penalty area, but fortunately the referee thought it was unintentional.
In stoppage time, Luke Shaw's free-kick from the left was passed to the back post and Maguire's header was saved by Foster. In the end, the two sides did not achieve anything, and shook hands and made peace 1-1.
Southampton's last 22 Premier League visits to Manchester United, with only 2 wins, 4 draws and 16 defeats, are the points-giving boys of the Theatre of Dreams, and returned from a 0-9 defeat last season. But Southampton have done well recently, with 3 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat in the previous seven league games away to Manchester United, with goals and conceded in all matches. Therefore, the result of this draw is not particularly unexpected.
Prior to this game, Cristiano Ronaldo had suffered five rounds of no goals in all competitions, and after missing another scoring opportunity against Southampton, United's goal drought on the No. 7 was extended to six, and his longest non-scoring was from December 2008 to January 2009.
Cristiano Ronaldo's downturn is a concentrated embodiment of The overall offensive inefficiency of Manchester United. The opportunities created in the Red Devils game are mainly created by a quick attack, or by directly hitting the opponent's back space through a long pass. Real trench warfare team cooperation, almost none. In contrast, Southampton's continuous passing ability seems to be far beyond the Red Devils, not afraid of pressing, and the sports game is handy.
Like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Lonnick insisted that United had been improving, but in reality, the Red Devils could not attack in the front and could not hold on to the back, which disappointed the fans. The data shows that Southampton have 13 shots on goal, one more than Manchester United! If it were not for the mercy of VAR's men and the failure to pursue the bumpers and stompers in Maguire's penalty area, I am afraid that the team would have been killed by penalties.
Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Maguire and Luke Shaw continued to make mistakes, and Luke Shaw, who was touted as "Carlos of England" at the European Championship, gave Southampton an equaliser with a basic positional error. And this is the second time this week that he has stood behind a centre-back, causing the opponent not to be offside, Burnley's equalizer goal, and Jay Rodriguez also succeeded in anti-offside because Shaw dragged at the end.
One can't step into the same river twice, but United can repeat the same mistakes over and over again. The plot of the three consecutive draws was almost exactly the same, and the Red Devils squandered a lot of scoring opportunities and were finally forced to be flattened by the defensive line. This situation leaves the fans speechless, who can write a new script for Manchester United?
Many people once thought that Manchester United could become a championship-winning team as long as they bought another back, but reality seems to tell people that the Red Devils also need new strikers, midfielders, defenders, and all three lines are problematic. But the personnel is not the root of United's current problems, because Southampton's players are far less equipped than the Red Devils, but they can also play a wonderful team. What exactly is the problem? The mood of the Audience at Old Trafford was as desperate as the look in De Gea's eyes as he watched Adams shoot into the net.