He may not be the most accurate passer, but he provides support when it is needed.
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Sevilla were fuelled on by a loud and vibrant home crowd, so to leave proceedings without finding the back of the net through a total of 25 attempts on goal, with eight of those being on target, is a missed opportunity. It even reached the point that, in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho insisted Scott McTominay got the nod ahead of him. Conte then offered to meet Mourinho “in a room” after the United manager brought up match-fixing allegations that were leveled at – and subsequently dropped against – Conte from his time in Italy.
The Italian was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
“There is this risk”, said Conte.
I think we had a good control of Eden [Hazard], Willian, of course, is an awesome player and in that action [his goal] he killed us, but we took progression of the game, we had more and more control of the game without creating lots of chances because we didn’t but they also didn’t.
His strike against the Blues was his first in United colours against a team in the division’s top six, a statistic which had previously plagued him. If he stays out it will be better. Part of what made United a tough club to thrive in for forwards in recent years is how their approach to football has changed post-Alex Ferguson.
The visitors lead only lasted just five minutes and was against the run of play.
However, Mourinho used Herrera twice last season to virtually man-mark Chelsea dangerman Eden Hazard with very different results.
The first half saw Old Trafford devoid of any atmosphere except the 3,000 Chelsea supporters who were by far the loudest in 75,000 crowd.
United travel to Crystal Palace on Monday before a crucial match against Liverpool on March 10 and Smalling believes the victory over Chelsea and playing at Old Trafford will give them an edge over their bitter rivals.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have been told by Ryan Giggs they need to win multiple titles before they can be considered the greatest Premier League side ever.
Both sides could also feel the after effects of their Champions League exertions in midweek. However, when Manchester United had chances, they capitalized.
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Conte had surprisingly removed Hazard just before conceding and that decision looked all the more puzzling as Chelsea searched in vain for an equaliser.
