da dobrowin： After lifting the mood somewhat with some impressive results in the Premier League in recent weeks, Manchester United were brought back down to Earth with a shuddering halt thanks to a 2-0 defeat to relegation-battlers Watford.
Snapshot
da dobrowin： The Red Devils appeared to have turned a corner with victories over Tottenham and Manchester City, before a draw against a resurgent Everton side. However, on Sunday afternoon, that looked more like a false dawn, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side effectively shooting themselves in the foot in their defeat to Watford.
Watch Manchester United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
First, David de Gea’s howler allowed the Hornets to take the lead, before Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s clumsy challenge inside the area saw Troy Deeney convert from the spot. But whilst the result wasn’t what United would have been hoping for prior to the beginning of the match, they could take one positive from it: the cameo from Paul Pogba.
Off the bench
The France World Cup winner had been out of action for a number of weeks, and his comeback appeared to be delayed even further thanks to setbacks. But after being named in the match-day squad for the clash at Vicarage Road, Solskjaer brought Pogba on for Jesse Lingard after 64 minutes of the contest. And even though he couldn’t inspire a dramatic turnaround, the midfielder showed enough in his performance to suggest that his return from injury can be a major boost to United.
As per Sofascore, he had an impressive pass accuracy of 90%, provided one key pass and completed both of his attempted long balls – all three of those stats more than what Lingard had managed despite starting the game. And Pogba could have stamped his authority on the game had it not been for a fine save from Ben Foster after a neat one-two with Anthony Martial on the edge of the box.
The Frenchman’s two shots on target equalled anything that any of his teammates produced, and that ability to go beyond the striker from midfield could be valuable in helping the Red Devils break down teams that want to sit back and defend. It was no surprise therefore to hear Solskjaer say after the game that the 26-year-old gave them that “little bit of edge, quality and urgency” and was the “only plus”. It may only have been a cameo, but Pogba’s performance offers the United boss some encouragement for the future.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s potential swoop for Erling Haaland would spell bad news for this player.