He came with a World Cup winner’s medal, a Champions League and eight Bundesliga titles. Memphis Depay has struggled to impress in quite the same way since arriving in England but was recalled to the starting line-up at Vicarage Road with Martial and Rooney unavailable.
Advertisement
But it nearly looked as if there was going to be an unexpected ending.
This time Memphis was called into action as a striker, where he scored the opening goal for Manchester United against Watford in their 2-1 win.
The West Brom striker could be available for around £25million and Louis van Gaal is reportedly prepared to stump up the cash to secure his signature.
It nearly proved costly as three minutes from time Marcos Rojo swiped through the back of Ighalo and referee Bobby Madley pointed to the spot.
Yet Deeney’s equaliser merely jolted United into life, and when Gomes saved Lingard’s low shot, Schweinsteiger squeezed the ball back into the middle and it went in off Deeney.
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores refused to be downbeat despite the nature of the defeat. We had the late penalty [against us] but, as a team, we created another three possibilities in five minutes after that. “To lose that point is very hard, very hard”.
“But we can give support in symbols, and I think this is a nice thing for the French people, the victims and the relatives of the victims”. Yet the sucker punch came when Deeney’s attempt to clear Bastian Schweinsteiger’s shot ended with the ball trickling over the line.
“Our possession play was not so good, I changed the shape because of the injuries in the attacking positions and maybe it was because of that”, Van Gaal said. The 22-year-old was unable to finish two separate one-on-one chances to put the game to bed but his manager was still happy with his performance. Given that so many would regard captaining a team against United as the pinnacle, he has invited those friends to witness his proud moment, both to remind them of what he once told them and to say thank you to those who gave him the belief he required.11′ – GOAL!
Earlier Gomez had been the hero – clawing away Jesse Lingard’s goalbound effort after he’d been set free by the revitalised Depay.
This has allowed United move up the table as they sit second in the table with 27 points after 13 matches, trailing league leaders Leicester City by a point.
Memphis Depay finished second on 18 per cent and Ashley Young was third with four per cent.
Injuries keep piling up for United: United went into the game with six of their players injured and added two more on the casualty list.
“He is always looking very good. At half-time we had to forget and play a match for 45 minutes”.
Advertisement
Watford: Gomes 7; Nyom 6 (Paredes (68) 6), Cathcart 6, Britos 6, Anya 6; Abdi 6, Capoue 7, Watson 5, Jurado 5 (Ake (46th) 6); Ighalo 6, Deeney 7.
