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MOTD- Olympiakos 2-0 Manchester United

By on February 25, 2014

The Premier League is supposed to be the strongest league in the world.  However, that picture has been put under serious doubt as Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City, three of the biggest and strongest club in England, all lost 2-0 in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg.  But United, who suffered a stinging 2-0 loss to Olympiakos, won’t be worried about the quality of their league.  Instead, David Moyes’ side will just be focusing on the quality of their performances, which have gone so bad this season it is near impossible to find adjectives along the lines of “horrendous” and “torrential” to describe them that you haven’t already used.  Even former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the man who told United fans that “your job now is to stand by our new manger”, will have his reservations on whether he actually picked the right man to lead the Red Devils in the post-Fergie era.

For the sixth straight match Moyes didn’t start Adnan Januzaj, a baffling move for a player who had been United’s brightest by far in the first half of the season, and once again felt the results, this time even worse considering Januzaj didn’t even make the trip to Olympiakos.  Moyes did feature Tom Cleverly on the other hand, an equally absurd move, considering the midfielder failed to complete a single pass in the final third throughout the full nintey minutes.   But Moyes’ managerial decisions aside, it was a very poor showing from a starting eleven that was still close to top class.

The visitors started slowly, and Alejandro Dominguz would have put Olympiakos ahead just seven minutes in if not for a superb last minute sweeping tackle from Nemanja Vidic.  Warning bells were ringing for United, and although Moyes’ side began to rotate the ball around the back and keep possession, Hernan Perez cut in from the left on a counter-attack before slicing a low effort just wide in the twelfth minute.  Eventually, Olympiakos broke the deadlock.  Giannis Maniatis rifled a low shot towards goal from twenty-five yards in the thirty-seventh minute, and Dominguez changed the effort’s direction via a soft tap near the penalty spot, wrong-footing David De Gea and sending the ball bouncing into the back of the net.

United became shambles, and were still in a rut in the beginning of the second half.  So much for the hairdryer treatment so handy in the Fergie-era.  In fact, it was only eight minutes into the second half when Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell made it two for the home side when he received the ball thirty yards out from goal.  The 21-year-old nutmegged Michael Carrick, and in a moment that could turn out to end United’s hopes of any spot in the Champions League next season, cured a wonderful effort around the outstretched fingertips of De Gea into the bottom left corner.

The goal mustered somewhat of a response from United, but a blunted one all the same.  However, ten minutes before the end of regulation time Robin van Persie had a great chance to grab that vital away goal, only to take Chris Smalling’s cross from the right back outside and blasted a shot over the crossbar.  But there would be no Moysie time or anything like a late comeback United fans came to expect under Ferguson, and the match began a new match-week with another disappointing result for Moyes and the Reds.
Man of the Match: Alejandro Dominguez

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.