MAN UTD...6 LEEDS.........2
Deadly United turn on style as embarrassing Leeds are torn to shreds
AS MANCHESTER United moved the ball into the final third of the field in the 66th minute, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa raised his hands to his head like a man about to witness something horrible. He knew what was coming. Another goal.
United midfielder Scott McTominay was still 40 yards out as he played the ball forwards but Bielsa had clocked the danger. He had seen his defender Luke Ayling was dozing and not wise to Daniel James’s run off his shoulder. He was aware of the green acres behind for James to run into.
A second later, all of Bielsa’s miserable premonitions had come to pass. Ayling was mugged, James took possession and ran through to score. That made it 5-1 to United and an embarrassing afternoon for Leeds had just taken another turn for the desperate.
It did not stop there. United were magnificent with the ball. Fast, sharp, clever and hungry. They finished with six, the first time they had scored that many in the League since drubbing Arsenal 8-2 here in 2011.
It could easily have been more, too. So dangerous were United and so hapless were Leeds when they didn’t have the ball that this was a game destined to go only one way from the moment United went ahead in the second minute.
Leeds created chances and scored twice. They had considerably more possession than United. But no matter how many goals Leeds had managed to score, United would always have scored even more.
In a three-minute spell towards the end of the game, for example, Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier made four good saves. Four! Every time Leeds had the ball during that period, they gave it away again. United were ruthless and scored some very good goals. They had 26 shots to Leeds’ 17. They will move to just two points behind leaders Liverpool if they win their game in hand. The teams face each other in mid- January, and United will relish the opportunity of a genuine return to relevance.
Certainly this experience will drive them. There was no clever plan to foil them or restrict them here. No matter his reputation for tactical brilliance, Bielsa’s plan to play on the front foot blew up in his face. McTominay scored twice in the first three minutes. He was
terrific throughout and his early contributions set the direction.
The first goal was sweetly struck from 19 yards after United had been presented with the ball by a Leeds mistake. That was to become a pattern.
McTominay scored his second almost immediately, following a lovely pass from Anthony Martial, and then Patrick Bamford missed when clean through at the other end.
That moment was significant because there were lots of instances like that, when Leeds threatened to get back into things only to implode at the other end.
United’s third goal came in the 20th minute and this time there were two Leeds mistakes. First, Rodrigo conceded possession, then Ayling failed to challenge Bruno Fernandes properly after initially blocking an effort from Martial. Fernandes’ shot flew low to Meslier’s right and into the net.
Leeds were at a loss as to how to repel United. Seated on his upturned bucket on the touchline, Bielsa didn’t exactly appear full of ideas either.
Some basic defending principles would have helped them but they were absent when United scored their fourth in the 37th minute.
Martial moved ahead of the snoozing Bamford to flick on a corner at the near post and Victor Lindelof did likewise to Kalvin Phillips to score from six yards.
Leeds scored themselves four minutes later — Liam Cooper heading in from a corner — and David de Gea reacted superbly to repel a crunching Raphinha volley early in the second half.
Had it gone in, Leeds would have been back in it at 4-2. But still they would have lost. The contest was stretched like a big game of five-a- side and United were simply proving better at it.
James will have welcomed his goal, his first in the Premier League for 16 months. Soon after, Fernandes popped in one of his hop, skip, jump penalties after Martial had been fouled by Pascal Struijk. Then Stuart Dallas beat De Gea from 25 yards.
United were peppering the Leeds goal to the death, then Jack Harrison missed an open goal at the other end. All very typical of what we had seen.
Two great rivals. Two Uniteds. One considerably better than the other. This was never a contest. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 8; Wan-Bissaka 6, Maguire 6, Lindelof 6, Shaw 6 (Telles 60min, 6); Fred 7.5, MCTOMINAY 8.5; James 6.5, Fernandes 8 (Van de Beek 71, 6), Rashford 7.5 (Cavani 71, 6); Martial 7.5. Subs not used: Henderson, Bailly, Pogba, Mata, Greenwood, Matic.
Scorers: McTominay 2, 3, Fernandes 20, 70 (pen), Lindelof 37, James 66. Booked: James.
Manager: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 8. LEEDS UNITED (4-1-4-1): Meslier 6; Dallas 6, Ayling 5, Cooper 5.5 (Davis 72), Alioski 6; Phillips 5 (Struijk 46, 6); Raphinha 7, Rodrigo 6.5, Klich 5 (Shackleton 46, 6), Harrison 6.5; Bamford 6. Subs not used: Casilla, Poveda-Ocampo, Roberts, Costa, Hernandez, Casey. Scorers: Cooper 41, Dallas 73. Manager: Marcelo Bielsa 4. Referee: Anthony Taylor 6.