Secondly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was included in the starting XI for the first time since moving to England, but the decision proved to be the proverbial case of the right man, in the right place, at the wrong time. He started a two man midfield that allowed Kevin de Bruyne to pretty much do whatever he so pleased.
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However, he is not willing to take the plunge just yet and declare City as the favourites for the title, as they have been found hot and cold on occasions. City levelled late on before Robin van Persie settled the game.
This conversion represents monetary benefits for the winning club, players and the potential of the victor, Manchester City. By the end, City were playing incredibly deep, hoofing every ball as deep in United’s half of the field as possible, and just trying to hang on to their narrow lead.
“But I think it’s great for him to learn from somebody like that”.
That seemed to make the difference; Rashford had two early incisive runs, one spinning Sagna, the other catching Zlatan, and Herrera linked well with the United team, smart with possession and hungry to regain it. He will get better as time goes on. Roberto Firmino scored twice while Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana also scored at Anfield, which hosted its first game of the season following the completion of work to expand the club’s main stand.
Despite nearly playing 500 matches for United, he believes that Guardiola, rather than Mourinho, should be regarded as the ‘Special One’.
United’s next match will be a Europa League game at Rotterdam against Feyenoord on Thursday, before a three day break and a trip to Vicarage Road versus Watford. In the first half we were incredible when we controlled the ball, had lots of chances and in the second half we played differently – defensively we were very, very solid.
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Well that begs the apparent question as to why the Manchester United manager fielded him, knowing all too well he wasn’t fully fit.
