The cautious play paid off for Manchester United, who only got Fernandes going. Van de Beek again tragic

Michael Carrick had a winning debut on the Manchester United bench as the Red Devils, helped by the arrival of Bruno Fernandes, were ultimately the happier side after a lacklustre performance from both teams, who focused mainly on solid defending.

Those who expected Manchester United to look a little fresher after the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer realised after a few minutes of the game that they had waited in vain.

The first 25 minutes were mainly played in the middle of the park, with both teams trying to combine, but both Villarreal, who were far more successful in this regard, being able to combine in the opponents’ half, and Manchester United were unable to create any big chances.

For the Red Devils, there was no question of any chances given that they managed to get in behind the half by sending the ball in through David de Gea. However, it must be added that the great positional play of the Spanish side was also to blame.

Around the 30th minute the game picked up slightly and chances came for Villarreal and also one for Manchester United, however, the centres into the box were not accurate in either case and nothing came of it.

Then in the 33rd minute, Yeremi Pino fouled just outside the big whitewash, Cristiano Ronaldo took the ball, unfortunately for the visiting team he only hit the wall in front of him.

In the 41st minute, Donny van de Beek saw a yellow card after sliding into an opponent. But Daniel Parejo’s shot was similar to Ronaldo’s earlier, except that it went too high.

Nothing more happened in the first half and both teams went into the booths goalless.

The second half was more or less the same as the first. Manu Trigueros had a great chance in the 59th minute, but his shot was brilliantly saved by de Gea.

In the 66th minute, van de Beek left the field for Bruno Fernandes and Anthony Martial for Marcus Rashford.

Although the Dutch midfielder was given priority over Fernandes, but linking the midfield with the attack was therefore not at all successful. However, is it his fault at all?

Manchester United’s attacks were desperately clear. When de Gea wasn’t kicking the ball away, after a couple of passes, the defenders got the ball to Fred or McTominay, who were not being challenged by anyone in the attack, and so the ball went to the line to Martial or Sancho.

The newly arrived duo changed the game of their team from the ground up, especially Fernandes, who ran up between the stoppers in the 71st minute and started an interesting action that Sancho couldn’t convert into a goal.

Emery reacted to the development of the match, sending on the pair of Samuel Chukwueze and Alberto Moreno in the 73rd minute.

However, the complexion of the game remained unchanged and Manchester United dictated the pace of the match. It was eventually rewarded when Gerónimo Rulli’s poor cross was intercepted by Fred, who crossed to a free Ronaldo, who outmuscled the keeper.

The Spanish coach sent on Daniel Raba immediately after the goal and a few minutes later he sent on Boulay Diu. But it didn’t lead to anything. On the contrary, in the 90th minute Sancho scored an uncompromising shot from a quick counter-attack to seal the Red Devils’ 2-0 victory.

Source: UEFA