28/05/2024 09:29
The Spear With No Point
Manchester United's Dutch manager, Erik ten Hag, was believed to be in danger of dismissal towards the end of the 2023-24 season's campaigning. but the team managed to get through to the F.A. Cup Final at London's Wembley stadium, where they defeated city rivals, Manchester City, league champions, 2-1, preventing the 'other' club from Manchester, with Spain's Pep Guardiola, manager of Spanish club FC Barcelona's 2008 treble, at the helm of the City ship, from again winning the coveted league and cup double, which they'd won the previous, 2022-23 season, beating United, 1-2, before going on to win the treble of European Cup, F.A. Cup, and English Premier League, by defeating Italy's Internazionale of Milan, 1-0, on June 10th, 2023, in the UCL Final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey. The defeat at Wembley for United was painful, as prior to that the club had been England's sole treble winner, having defeated Newcastle, 2-0, in the 1999 F.A. Cup Final, as league champions, before beating German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the UCL Final at FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Spain.
United went on to win the Intercontinental Cup on November 30th, 1999, against Brazil's Palmeiras, 1-0, at National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, that was later accepted by the world's governing soccer body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), as a World Club Cup Final success, which effectively meant a quadruple triumph. Moreover, if they'd won the English Charity Shield, between the English champions and the F.A. Cup winners, although as United won the league, the game was played against runner-up, Arsenal, the club could have claimed a quintet, although the match was lost, 1-2, to 'The Gunners'. Moreover, defeat on August 27th, 1999, in the European Super Cup, 0-1, at Stade Louis II, Monaco to Italy's Serie A side, Lazio, winners of the 1999 Cup Winners Cup, prevented the squad from a clean sweep of the other major trophies winnable.
Manchester City's 2023 success was more comprehensive, although they could never win the World Club Cup in the way United did, which in 2000 had replaced the Intercontinental Cup annually contested between the South American (CONMEBOL) winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winners of the European Cup, a competition for league champions, itself superseded by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL), with qualification extended to runners up in Europe's respective national leagues, while the World Club Cup competition offered similar opportunities for continental champions in Asia (AFC), Oceania (OFC), North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and Africa (CAF), to contest the trophy.
City lost the Charity Shield, a.e.t., 1-1, on penalties, 1-4 to runners up in the title race, Arsenal, but beat the winners of the Europa Cup, Spain's Villareal, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-4 on penalties, to win the European Super Cup at Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece, on August 16th, 2023, while winning the World Club Cup, 4-0, against Brazil's Fluminense in the Final on December 22nd, 2023, at King Abdullah Sports City (KASC), ‘The Shining Jewel’, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, 3-0, in the semi-final on December 19th, 2023, at the KASC, which gave the club a clean sweep of all five of the major trophies.
City lost to Spain’s Real Madrid in the 2024 UCL quarter final, after drawing, 3-3, away, and 1-1, a.e.t., at home, that is, 4-4 on aggregate, but 3-4 on penalties, while United finishing bottom of UCL Group A, didn't qualify for the Europa Cup, as third placed, which fell to Turkish club, S.K. Galatasaray, behind group winners, Bayern Munich, and runner-up, Denmark's Copenhagen. That left City with the task of qualifying for the 2024-25 UCL, which they did by virtue of winning the league by 91 points to Arsenal's 89, while ending the season 8th, but F.A. Cup winners, United qualified for the Europa League, with the possibility of progressing further at the knockout stage.
Although the F.A. Cup was United's last chance of success in 2023-24, for City it was a chance at the double, and the path of the teams to the Final was necessarily unequal. City were consistent achievers, winning the league, while 'the red devils' from 'the theater of dreams', Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, were plagued by injury, inconsistency, and team selection issues, causing ten Hag problems, which the squad was able to weather, in order to survive the earlier rounds, and reach a semi-final against Coventry City that, 2-0, at half time, and 3-0 after 58 minutes, should have been won easily, but the eventual result, 3-3, a.e.t., and 4-2 on penalties, was met with huge sighs of relief from weather-beaten fans.
Dutch left back, Tyrell Malacia, missed the entire season through injury, while England left back, Luke Shaw, only 12 league starts in 2023-24, missed the semi-final against Coventry, with Diogo Dalot, Portugal's right back, switching to left back, and England's Aaron Wan-Bissaka, in competition with Dalot for his right back berth, borne along with events, assumed the role, with some certainty of keeping it, should the team reach the Final. Injuries to center backs, Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez, France's Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, who played against Coventry, rising to head down a ball from a corner on the right, just in front of the penalty spot, into the bottom right corner of the net, on 45+ minutes, 2-0, and Sweden's Victor Lindelöf, meant a switch for Brazil's ball-attacking midfielder, Casemiro, switched to the heart of the defence, and further opportunities for Jon Evans, center back in three successful championship campaigns, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2012-13, after making his league debut in 2008-09, under the managership of Scot, Alex Ferguson, before being let go by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, for £6m to West Bromwich Albion for 2015-16.
Released by Leicester City at the end of 2022-23, during which he'd been captain, Jon signed again for United, age 35, after winning the 2021 F.A. Cup, with 'The Foxes' from King Power Stadium, 1-0, against Chelsea. Because of injuries to the other center halves, Evans and Willy Kambwala, age 19, 3 starts and 5 appearances from the bench, born Kinshasa, DR Congo, raised in the southwestern suburbs of a Paris commune, in the new town of Les Ulis, within the Île-de-France, most populous of France’s eighteen regions, northwest Essonne department, played for Elan Chevilly Larue (2012-13), and Les Ulis (2013-18), captain of France U 16s, and signing from the Academy of French side, Sochaux-Montbéliard, ‘The Lions Cubs’, in October 2020, were paired before the Final, although neither started the match. Willy made his first start and league debut alongside Jon in a defeat, 0-2, at West Ham, on December 23rd, 2023, and his second start against Liverpool in a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, on April 7th, 2024, alongside England's Maguire.
Both Kambwala and Evans were on the bench for the Final, with Evans, substituting for Martínez, 8 league starts, and 3 appearances from the substitutes' bench in 2023-24, on in the 73rd minute, with the score at 2-0, after goals on 30 minutes, from Argentine right wing, Alejandro Garnacho, and central midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, on 39 minutes. Lindelöf replaced Garnacho on 90+3 minutes, with the score, 1-2, after City winger, 46th minute substitute for Croatian central midfielder, Mateo Kovačić, Belgium's Jérémy Doku, shot right footed, and United’s Cameroon 'keeper, André Onana, found he could only push the 87th minute fast and low grass cutter into the inside netting by his right hand post.
Although Varane and Martínez were at center back, injuries to both meant that playing alongside each other had been a rare event throughout the campaign, and Casemiro wasn't even on the substitutes' bench, despite his starting in the center back position against Coventry in the semi-final, and featuring as an emergency stopper in the games up to the Final, which along with the absence of Maguire seemed overly empty from the hand of fate.
Varane and Martínez, center back pairing in the 2023 EFL Final, which United won against Newcastle, 2-0, started 2023-24 as first choice central defenders, and while injuries to Malacia and Shaw first resulted in Lindelöf or Dalot at left back, or in central defence, when Varane and/or Martínez became unavailable, amid rumors of his having being available for transfer, after injury to Lindelöf, Maguire was the only center back available, while injured Shaw had also been doing emergency duty as a center half. Although left footed Martínez could have filled in at left back, injury to him left the squad without a recognized left back.
Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence as a quality controller in central midfield, alongside Casemiro, was the big plus factor, while the preferring in the Final of on-loan Moroccan defensive midfielder from Italy's Serie A club, Fiorentina, Sofyan Amrabat, 10 league starts, and 11 substitute appearances, to Casemiro, 24 starts, and 1 appearance from the bench, raised some eyebrows, whereas the irreplaceability of attacking midfielder, Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, joint top scorer in the league to Denmark's center forward, Rasmus Højlund, with 10, remained as constant as Planck’s.
The other major surprise to many was the inclusion of Scot, Scott McTominay, as center forward, in place of Højlund, giving the attack the look of a spear with sharp edges, as Garnacho and Rashford, right and left, played as inverted wingers, or inside forwards, but without any point to it, although a glance at the stats reveals what might have influenced ten Hag’s tactical thinking. While central midfield was always viewed as Scott’s most natural position, before becoming a member of the first team squad, he was moved into the attack, when there was a lack of an ‘out-and-out’ center forward in the reserves.
Scott's instinct for the important goal was evident from the two he got at home to Chelsea, 2-1, on December 6th, 2023, in the 19th minute, controlling the ball with his right, at the penalty spot, before striking with his left, low, to Spanish ‘keeper Robert Sánchez’s right, 1-0, and the 69th, a powerful headed goal, inside the penalty area, right, from a right footed cross by Garnacho, left corner of the 18 yard box, 2-1, lifting the club from 7th to 6th position in the league table, and again on February 1st, 2024, at Wolves, heading powerfully down a corner on the right, at the edge of the penalty area, center, ball bouncing into the net, top right corner, in the 75th minute, 3-1, with the side finally running out winners, 4-3, primarily owing to the two-goal cushion McTominay had been instrumental in constructing, and which again lifted the club to 6th position, when they’d twice slipped to 8th, after losing away to West Ham on December 23rd, 0-2, and at Nottingham Forest on December 30th, 2023, 1-2.
On February 11th, 2024, McTominay got the 86th minute winner away to Aston Villa, 2-1, with a bullet-like header, just outside the penalty area, center, from a right footed Dalot cross, right outside of the 18 yard box, and the club didn’t slip further than 6th, a European qualifying position for 2024-25, until April 13th, 2024, after a draw, 2-2, at Bournemouth, with the next game the F.A. Cup semi-final against Coventry on April 21st, 2024, and a win guaranteeing the club an even chance of qualifying for the Europa League in the Final. McTominay had scored the first on 10 minutes, after Liverpool’s Republic of Ireland ‘keeper, Caoimhín Kelleher, stopped a shot from Garnacho, left corner of the penalty area, the ball falling to Scott on the goal line, center, right foot, high under the ball, into the net, 1-0, in the quarter final against Liverpool, 2-2, and 4-3, a.e.t., and the first in the semi-final against Coventry, right edge and center of the 18 yard box, cross from Dalot, goal line, center, off Scott’s left shin, 1-0, on 23 minutes.
Putting Scott into the firing line against City was strategically logical, given his big game performances, while Casemiro’s ‘schoolboy error’, as reported, gifting Arsenal their win on May 12th, 2024, at Old Trafford, 0-1, by moving too slowly out of defence, playing Kai Havertz, German attacking midfielder, onside on the right. Kai’s right footed cross inside the 18 yard box, close to the touchline, turned in at the near post, with his right boot, by Belgian forward, Leandro Tossard, on 20 minutes, might explain Casemiro's exclusion from the Final squad, with fit again Varane and Martínez selected in central defence, and center half Lindelöf, also recovered, on the bench.
United’s first goal was gifted to Garnacho by City left back, Joško Gvardiol, who failed to deal with a long crossfield ball forward from Dalot’s right boot, in the left back position, inside his own half, towards Alejandro, outside of the ‘D’, right, with German ‘keeper, Stefan Ortega, rushing out to the edge of the 18 yard box, Croatia’s Gvardiol leaping, heading the ball over ‘keeper Ortega’s despairing hands, as Garnacho ran through into the penalty area to drive the ball into the undefended net with his right boot on 30 minutes. Mainoo’s goal was similarly worked, Marcus Rashford on the left wing, inside his own half, long cross field ball from his right foot, forwards towards Alejandro on the right wing, running into the 18 yard box, right corner, passing the ball low, along the turf, back to Fernandes, edge of the 18 yard box, inside the ‘D’, center, Bruno side footing the ball, low, right instep, along the pitch towards Kobbie, outside the penalty area, left, placing the ball, lifting it off the ground, right boot, on 39 minutes, to Ortega’s right, 2-0.
McTominay’s 55th minute goal against Galatasary of Istanbul, 3-1, away, in the penultimate Group A UCL game, would have been enough to give the club a place in the knockout stages of the Europa Cup, despite losing the last Group A game, 0-1 to Bayern at Old Trafford, but the game ended 3-3, with Maguire and Lindelöf starting at the center of defence, rather than the previous season’s first choice central defenders, Varane and Martínez, further illustrating the effort made by Scott to lift the reds out of the doldrums, and transcend injury concerns: man of the season.
The Spear With No Point
Manchester United's Dutch manager, Erik ten Hag, was believed to be in danger of dismissal towards the end of the 2023-24 season's campaigning, but the team managed to get through to the F.A. Cup Final at London's Wembley stadium, where they defeated city rivals, Manchester City, league champions, 2-1, preventing the 'other' club from Manchester, with Spain's Pep Guardiola, manager of Spanish club FC Barcelona's 2008 treble, at the helm of the City ship, from again winning the coveted league and cup double, which they'd won the previous 2022-23 season, beating United, 1-2, before going on to win the treble of European Cup, F.A. Cup, and English Premier League, by defeating Italy's Internazionale of Milan, 1-0, on June 10th, 2023, in the UCL Final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey. The defeat at Wembley for United was painful, as prior to that the club had been England's sole treble winner, having defeated Newcastle, 2-0, in the 1999 F.A. Cup Final, as league champions, before beating German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, 2-1, in the UCL Final at FC Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Spain.
United went on to win the Intercontinental Cup on November 30th, 1999, against Brazil's Palmeiras, 1-0, at National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, that was later accepted by the world's governing soccer body, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), as a World Club Cup Final success, which effectively meant a quadruple triumph. Moreover, if they'd won the English Charity Shield, between the English champions and the F.A. Cup winners, although as United won the league, the game was played against runner-up, Arsenal, the club could have claimed a quintet, but the match was lost, 1-2, to 'The Gunners'. Moreover, defeat on August 27th, 1999, in the European Super Cup, 0-1, at Stade Louis II, Monaco, to Italy's Serie A side, Lazio, winners of the 1999 Cup Winners Cup, prevented the squad from a clean sweep of the other major trophies winnable.
Manchester City's 2023 success was more comprehensive, although they could never win the World Club Cup in the way United did, which in 2000 had replaced the Intercontinental Cup annually contested between the South American (CONMEBOL) winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winners of the European Cup, a competition for league champions, itself superseded by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL), with qualification extended to runners up in Europe's respective national leagues, while the World Club Cup competition offered similar opportunities for continental champions in Asia (AFC), Oceania (OFC), North, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and Africa (CAF), to contest the trophy.
City lost the Charity Shield, a.e.t., 1-1, on penalties, 1-4 to runners up in the title race, Arsenal, but beat the winners of the Europa Cup, Spain's Villareal, 1-1, a.e.t., 5-4 on penalties, to win the European Super Cup at Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece, on August 16th, 2023, while winning the World Club Cup, 4-0, against Brazil's Fluminense in the Final on December 22nd, 2023, at King Abdullah Sports City (KASC), ‘The Shining Jewel’, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after defeating Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, 3-0, in the semi-final on December 19th, 2023, at the KASC, which gave the club a clean sweep of all five of the major trophies.
City lost to Spain’s Real Madrid in the 2024 UCL quarter final, after drawing, 3-3, away, and 1-1, a.e.t., at home, that is, 4-4 on aggregate, but 3-4 on penalties, while United finishing bottom of UCL Group A, didn't qualify for the Europa Cup, as third placed, which fell to Turkish club, S.K. Galatasaray, behind group winners, Bayern Munich, and runner-up, Denmark's Copenhagen. That left City with the task of qualifying for the 2024-25 UCL, which they did by virtue of winning the league by 91 points to Arsenal's 89, while ending the season 8th, but F.A. Cup winners, United qualified for the Europa League, with the possibility of progressing further at the knockout stage.
Although the F.A. Cup was United's last chance of success in 2023-24, for City it was a chance at the double, and the path of the teams to the Final was necessarily unequal. City were consistent achievers, winning the league, while 'the red devils' from 'the theater of dreams', Old Trafford stadium, Manchester, were plagued by injury, inconsistency, and team selection issues, causing ten Hag problems, which the squad was able to weather, in order to survive the earlier rounds, and reach a semi-final against Coventry City that, 2-0, at half time, and 3-0 after 58 minutes, should have been won easily, but the eventual result, 3-3, a.e.t., and 4-2 on penalties, was met with huge sighs of relief from weather-beaten fans.
Dutch left back, Tyrell Malacia, missed the entire season through injury, while England left back, Luke Shaw, only 12 league starts in 2023-24, missed the semi-final against Coventry, with Diogo Dalot, Portugal's right back, switching to left back, and England's Aaron Wan-Bissaka, in competition with Dalot for his right back berth, borne along with events, assumed the role, with some certainty of keeping it, should the team reach the Final. Injuries to center backs, Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez, France's Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, who played against Coventry, rising to head down a ball from a right footed outswinging Fernandes' corner on the right, just in front of the penalty spot, into the bottom right corner of the net, on 45+ minutes, 2-0, and Sweden's Victor Lindelöf, meant a switch for Brazil's ball-attacking midfielder, Casemiro, switched to the heart of the defence, and further opportunities for Jon Evans, center back in three successful championship campaigns, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2012-13, after making his league debut in 2008-09, under the managership of Scot, Alex Ferguson, before being let go by Dutch manager, Louis van Gaal, for £6m to West Bromwich Albion for 2015-16.
Released by Leicester City at the end of 2022-23, during which he'd been captain, Jon signed again for United, age 35, after winning the 2021 F.A. Cup, with 'The Foxes' from King Power Stadium, 1-0, against Chelsea. Because of injuries to the other center halves, Evans and Willy Kambwala, age 19, 3 starts and 5 appearances from the bench, born Kinshasa, DR Congo, raised in the southwestern suburbs of a Paris commune, in the new town of Les Ulis, within the Île-de-France, most populous of France’s eighteen regions, northwest Essonne department, played for Elan Chevilly Larue (2012-13), and Les Ulis (2013-18), captain of France U 16s, and signing from the Academy of French side, Sochaux-Montbéliard, ‘The Lions Cubs’, in October 2020, were paired before the Final, although neither started the match. Willy made his first start and league debut alongside Jon in a defeat, 0-2, at West Ham, on December 23rd, 2023, and his second start against Liverpool in a draw, 2-2, at Old Trafford, on April 7th, 2024, alongside England's Maguire.
Both Kambwala and Evans were on the bench for the Final, with Evans, substituting for Martínez, 8 league starts, and 3 appearances from the substitutes' bench in 2023-24, on in the 73rd minute, with the score at 2-0, after goals on 30 minutes, from Argentine right wing, Alejandro Garnacho, and central midfielder, Kobbie Mainoo, on 39 minutes. Lindelöf replaced Garnacho on 90+3 minutes, with the score, 1-2, after City winger, 46th minute substitute for Croatian central midfielder, Mateo Kovačić, Belgium's Jérémy Doku, left of the 18 yard box, faced Garnacho, standing in the left corner of the box, Wan-Bissaka behind Alejandro. Doku pushes the ball out wider, with the outside of his right boot, almost as far as the left edge of the ‘D’, shoots right footed, and United’s Cameroon 'keeper, André Onana, finds he can only push the 87th minute fast and low grass cutter into the inside netting by his right hand post.
Although Varane and Martínez were at center back, injuries to both meant that playing alongside each other had been a rare event throughout the campaign, and Casemiro wasn't even on the substitutes' bench, despite his starting in the center back position against Coventry in the semi-final, and featuring as an emergency stopper in the games up to the Final, which along with the absence of Maguire seemed overly empty from the hand of fate.
Varane and Martínez, center back pairing in the 2023 EFL Final, which United won against Newcastle, 2-0, started 2023-24 as first choice central defenders, and while injuries to Malacia and Shaw first resulted in Lindelöf or Dalot at left back, or in central defence, when Varane and/or Martínez became unavailable, amid rumors of his having being available for transfer, after injury to Lindelöf, Maguire was the only center back available, while injured Shaw had also been doing emergency duty as a center half. Although left footed Martínez could have filled in at left back, injury to him left the squad without a recognized left back.
Kobbie Mainoo’s emergence as a quality controller in central midfield, alongside Casemiro, was the big plus factor, while the preferring in the Final of on-loan Moroccan defensive midfielder from Italy's Serie A club, Fiorentina, Sofyan Amrabat, 10 league starts, and 11 substitute appearances, to Casemiro, 24 starts, and 1 appearance from the bench, raised some eyebrows, whereas the irreplaceability of attacking midfielder, Portugal’s playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, joint top scorer in the league to Denmark's center forward, Rasmus Højlund, with 10, remained as constant as Planck’s.
The other major surprise to many was the inclusion of Scot, Scott McTominay, as center forward, in place of Højlund, giving the attack the look of a spear with sharp edges, as Garnacho and Rashford, right and left, played as inverted wingers, or inside forwards, but without any point to it, although a glance at the stats reveals what might have influenced ten Hag’s tactical thinking. While central midfield was always viewed as Scott’s most natural position, before becoming a member of the first team squad, he was moved into the attack, when there was a lack of an ‘out-and-out’ center forward in the reserves.
Scott's instinct for the important goal was evident from the two he got at home to Chelsea, 2-1, on December 6th, 2023, in the 19th minute, controlling the ball with his right, at the penalty spot, before striking with his left, low, to Spanish ‘keeper Robert Sánchez’s right, 1-0, and the 69th, a powerful headed goal, inside the penalty area, right, from a right footed cross by Garnacho, left corner of the 18 yard box, 2-1, lifting the club from 7th to 6th position in the league table, and again on February 1st, 2024, at Wolves, heading powerfully down a right footed outswinging Fernandes' corner on the right, at the edge of the penalty area, center, ball bouncing once, into the net, top right corner, in the 75th minute, 3-1, with the side finally running out winners, 4-3, primarily owing to the two-goal cushion McTominay had been instrumental in constructing, and which again lifted the club to 6th position, when they’d twice slipped to 8th, after losing away to West Ham on December 23rd, 0-2, and at Nottingham Forest on December 30th, 2023, 1-2.
On February 11th, 2024, McTominay got the 86th minute winner away to Aston Villa, 2-1, with a bullet-like header, just outside the penalty area, center, from a right footed Dalot cross, right outside of the 18 yard box, and the club didn’t slip further than 6th, a European qualifying position for 2024-25, until April 13th, 2024, after a draw, 2-2, at Bournemouth, with the next game the F.A. Cup semi-final against Coventry on April 21st, 2024, and a win guaranteeing the club an even chance of qualifying for the Europa League in the Final. McTominay had scored the first on 10 minutes, after Liverpool’s Republic of Ireland ‘keeper, Caoimhín Kelleher, stopped a shot from Garnacho, left corner of the penalty area, the ball falling to Scott on the goal line, center, right foot, high under the ball, into the net, 1-0, in the quarter final against Liverpool, 2-2, and 4-3, a.e.t., and the first in the semi-final against Coventry, right edge and center of the 18 yard box, cross from Dalot, goal line, center, off Scott’s left shin, 1-0, on 23 minutes.
Putting Scott into the firing line against City was strategically logical, given his big game performances, while Casemiro’s ‘schoolboy error’, as reported, gifting Arsenal their win on May 12th, 2024, at Old Trafford, 0-1, by moving too slowly out of defence, playing Kai Havertz, German attacking midfielder, onside on the right. Kai’s right footed cross inside the 18 yard box, close to the touchline, turned in at the near post, with his right boot, by Belgian forward, Leandro Tossard, on 20 minutes, might explain Casemiro's exclusion from the Final squad, with fit again Varane and Martínez selected in central defence, and center half Lindelöf, also recovered, on the bench.
United’s first goal was gifted to Garnacho by City left back, Joško Gvardiol, who failed to deal with a long crossfield ball forward from Dalot’s right boot, in the left back position, inside his own half, towards Alejandro, outside of the ‘D’, right, with German ‘keeper, Stefan Ortega, rushing out to the edge of the 18 yard box, right-to-left shoulder charge from Alejandro, disconcerting Croatia’s Gvardiol, leaps, heading the ball over ‘keeper Ortega’s despairing hands, as Garnacho runs through into the penalty area to drive the ball into the undefended net with his right boot on 30 minutes. Mainoo’s goal was similarly worked, Marcus Rashford on the left wing, inside his own half, long cross field ball from his right foot, forwards towards Alejandro on the right wing, running into the 18 yard box, right corner, passing the ball low, along the turf, back to Fernandes, edge of the 18 yard box, inside the ‘D’, center, Bruno side footing the ball, low, right instep, along the pitch towards Kobbie, outside the penalty area, left, placing the ball, lifting it off the ground, right boot, on 39 minutes, to Ortega’s right, 2-0.
McTominay’s 55th minute goal against Galatasary of Istanbul, 3-1, away, in the penultimate Group A UCL game, would have been enough to give the club a place in the knockout stages of the Europa Cup, despite losing the last Group A game, 0-1 to Bayern at Old Trafford, but the game ended 3-3, with Maguire and Lindelöf starting at the center of defence, rather than the previous season’s first choice central defenders, Varane and Martínez, further illustrating the effort made by Scott to lift the reds out of the doldrums, and transcend injury concerns: man of the season.