Man Utd winless streak sets records

MANCHESTER United’s humbling 2-0 defeat against Manchester City on Wednesday night represented another low for the Old Trafford side, who have struggled for form in recent weeks and have only managed to win two of their last nine games in all competitions.

There have been issues both in defence and attack, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems to have lost his Midas touch.

Solskjaer insisted after the game: “I’m concerned about the lack of results we are getting, but in times like this it’s not the time to point fingers at anyone.”

But just how bad have United been recently? They have been matching historic runs and breaking records with their displays.

We take a look at the stats that shame United after their derby defeat.

Manchester United have lost their scoring touch and have not managed a goal for four hours, 40 minutes — or since the game against West Ham on April 13. Even worse, their goals in that match came from two penalties, meaning they haven’t scored from open play for eight hours, 47 minutes.

There are clear issues at the other end of the pitch too. It has been obvious for a while that United’s defence has been struggling, but they have now not kept a clean sheet for 12 games. That’s a staggering run, and the the last time they went that long without one was August 1971 — or 48 years ago.

Solskjaer is struggling since signing his full-time deal. Solskjaer’s record of two victories in seven games since he was made permanent manager means he now has the worst win ratio of anyone occupying the role full-time. That figure — 28 per cent — is the worst in United’s history, overtaking Jack Robson who had a record of 29.5 per cent, between 1914 and 1921.

That has all led to a serious spell of defeats. They have now stumbled to seven losses in their last nine games after the defeat against City.

The last time they achieved a run like that was in 1962. It also took a total of 39 games for them to rack up seven losses before this miserable run.

The City defeat was historically bad too. Bizarrely, it was their first 2-0 league loss at home since Ryan Giggs made his debut against Everton in 1991.

That also means that it is the first time they have lost by that scoreline since the establishment of the Premier League.

Speaking of the Premier League, they’ve never let this many in before. United have been breached 50 times in the Premier League this season, which is more than they have ever conceded in the division. That’s the first time they’ve let in that many since the 1978-79 campaign (63). They played 42 games back then.

It is not even as though United have been unlucky in an attacking sense when they have failed to score. The Everton defeat may have been a nadir but it shared one fact with the City loss. In both games they have managed only one shot on target, a ludicrously low figure.

Solskjaer’s substitutions also did not have the desired impact against City. He brought on Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku and they got noticeably worse. That might be because the trio played a grand total of just 11 successful passes between them.

United did manage a victory against West Ham but they are not exactly the toughest opposition. And, in fact, they have not managed to beat a single team who occupy a place in the top half of their league since the start of the month.

The noisy neighbours have taken over their backyard. City’s win on Wednesday means they have now won seven away Premier League games against United at Old Trafford. That is more than any other team. It just shows how much the two sides have swopped in terms of their position in the footballing world. |