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MOTD: Manchester United 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg
The more we’ve seen of Manchester United this season, the better they’ve gotten; that was also the case today as Juan Mata jumpstarted United’s performance with a goal and an assist to come from behind against Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg. As United transitions into the heart of the season, Daley Blind increasingly resembles a centerback, Memphis Depay gets faster, Anthony Martial seems more mature and Mata looks like the younger version of himself in his player of the year Chelsea days.
In the bigger picture, the match also marked another important step forward in the club’s progression under Louis van Gaal, as his first win in in the Champions League with the Red Devils. Match after match, their performances have varied in quality and indeed, they lost 2-1 to PSV Eindhoven their last time out in the Champions League. Whilst their performance tonight remained below par, partly because of a “tired” team, as Van Gaal put it, their grit and ability to dig out a result reflects an increasingly confident team such as has been hitherto rarely seen in the Dutchman’s reign at the club.
“The last five matches we have kept the ball fantastically in our possession and now we couldn’t do it anymore,” he admitted in his post-match press conference, per United’s official website.
Wayne Rooney’s night was quiet with only two players who played the whole ninety minutes posting fewer touches than the United forward. Antonio Valencia also had trouble containing Daniel Caligiuri on the right, yet in keeping with Van Gaal’s theme of an increasingly “balanced” team, United had the depth to cover. Mata stepped up to the plate as United’s chief creative force, dominating the relatively inexperienced Ricardo Rodriguez with a mixture of runs down the line and cuts into the middle.
Valencia, who himself was only starting in lieu of the injured Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw, was replaced by Ashley Young in the second half. “It was tactical because I wanted to prevent crosses from that side and Antonio let them cross,” Van Gaal said. “Also, I saw that at that side they could be more effective on that side.”
It took just three minutes for Caligiuri to expose United’s defensive frailties. On Wolfsburg’s first foray forward, he cut past two defenders and into the middle then squared the ball; one more pass lead it to Julian Draxler on the edge of the penalty area and with all of United’s defenders drawn towards the ball, Caligiuri was wide open to tuck Draxler’s neat one-touch pass into the back of the net.
Yet United had barely had time to break a sweat and quickly responded down at the other end. In the twelfth minute, Depay cross found Mata at the far post with a cross from the left and the Spaniard’s curling effort destined for the top left corner was headed away in the nick of time by Dante. Soon after, Martial jinxed into box from the right and sliced a shot wide of the far post.
Just how old is United’s teenager again, they asked? His cool composure and elegant stride answered: however old French legend Thierry Henry was at his age. Martial again carved a lovely chance on the end of Rooney’s lovely forty-yard diagonal ball in the twenty-fourth minute, getting on the inside of his defender down the byline before cutting the back to the far post, only for Rooney to scuff the chance over the crossbar.
Nonetheless, an equalizer was inevitable lifts and perhaps Depay should have scored with a diving header on the end of an inch perfect in behind the defense from Mata; however, the his effort was straight Diego Benaglio.
Finally, Mata, who had played a part in all of United’s previous chances, won a penalty as his cross was blocked by Caligiuri’s arm. The twenty-seven-year-old himself stepped up and converted an unstoppable effort into the bottom left corner of the net. Before the end of the first half, United could have even had another as Mata set up Depay for a shot on the turn, fifteen yards out from goal. Slightly off balance, Depay sent a bobbling effort straight at Benaglio.
Wolfsburg’s defensive blockade broke just on the other side of the half, though, as Mata’s backheel flick from the remainders of a corner teed Chris Smalling to poked the ball past Benaglio from six yards out.
But when United should have gone and pushed for more goals, credit goes to Wolfsburg for getting back up and making life difficult for United. Just as United lost their momentum, Dieter Hecking brought on Nicolas Bendtner and Andre Schurrle on to compound Van Gaal’s worries. Caligiuri forced David de Gea into a good near post with a low driven effort, before Schurrle dragged a low effort wide of the far post from the right side of the box in the seventy-first minute.
Yet the brilliance of Mata, who maintained an astonishing 98% passing percentage throughout the ninety minutes, and United’s rediscovered “balance” had put the game beyond Wolfsburg’s reach. Suddenly, Group B looks a lot more comparable for United with all four teams level on three points and zero goal differential with CSKA Moscow to come.
Homepage photo credit: Paul, via Flickr