Manchester United missed the chance to go top of the Premier League table as the Reds were shocked by bottom-side Sheffield United at Old Trafford in a 2-1 defeat.
Sheffield United had not won away from Bramall Lane all season in the league and are struggling at the foot of the division but stunned the flat-looking Reds when they went ahead after 23 minutes with a goal from Kean Bryan.
Chances for the Reds were few and far between but they rallied briefly in the second half when captain Harry Maguire headed in an equaliser after 64 minutes.
But the expected onslaught didn’t materialise and the Blades wounded the Reds again in the 74th minute when they scored a second through Oliver Burke.
There were no comeback heroics from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side and the costly defeat brought to an end United’s 13-game unbeaten in the Premier League.
Defeat leaves Manchester United in second on 40 points, one behind Manchester City, who have a match in hand. Sheff Utd remain bottom, but they now move within 10 points of safety.
Match-Stats :
| Manchester United | Sheffield United | |
|---|---|---|
| 75.8 | Possession % | 24.2 |
| 4 | Shots on target | 3 |
| 16 | Shots | 5 |
| 986 | Touches | 435 |
| 803 | Passes | 257 |
| 21 | Tackles | 15 |
| 8 | Clearances | 28 |
| 7 | Corners | 2 |
| 0 | Offsides | 5 |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 10 | Fouls conceded | 12 |
COMINGUP NEXT :
- Manchester United will visit Emirates to play against Arsenal on 30th January.
- Sheffield United will stay in Manchester to play against Manchester City on 30th January.
Post-Game Reactions:
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United :
“Disappointing. Well below par, of course, we started okay but then conceded the goal from maybe the first attack, a corner-kick. We had all the possession but when you concede two bad goals it is always going to be difficult. We didn’t create enough. We put pressure on them but we couldn’t penetrate enough in behind them and create big enough chances to score enough goals.”
“We were not lacking inspiration. That magic. That was missing. That little bit extra. There wasn’t the space to run into, they defended well and fair play to them, take nothing away from them. We didn’t have the right ideas or solutions. They weren’t there. The performance-level wasn’t there, the tempo wasn’t there, the quality wasn’t there. There were spaces we didn’t use and chances we could have made more of in the first half but, when you’re 1-0 down, you’re always chasing the game. They dropped deep and defended really well. I have to be fair enough to say they defended very well and we didn’t have the solutions to open them up.”
Key Facts :
- Before tonight, Sheffield United hadn’t won any of their last 15 PL away games, and hadn’t scored more than once in any of their last 20 PL away games.
- Manchester United lose to a side bottom of the Premier League table for the first time in 9 years.
- Before tonight, Man Utd were on the longest unbeaten league run of any team in Europe’s top five divisions: WWWWDWWDWWWDWL Then Sheffield United turned up to win their first game at Old Trafford since 1973.
- Sheffield United are the first Yorkshire side to ever win at Old Trafford in the Premier League and only the third to do so in all competitions in the Premier League era.
