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Manchester United suffered heartbreak right at the death as they suffered a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
The visitors saw much more of the ball but unfortunately, Erik ten Hag’s choice of a false-nine system meant they hardly created any chances of note in the first half.
Nobody ran in behind as everyone wanted the ball played to feet which allowed the Seagulls to sit in their midblock with ease. Until the second-half substitutions changed the game somewhat.
Both wingers — Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford were poor in the first half but the Ivorian managed to find the back of the net in the second half to level up the game.
Rashford poor again
As for the Mancunian, he is still struggling to beat his man, as seen from his one successful dribble out of three attempts.
And he hardly got involved in the game, managing only 23 touches while his passing was also poor, with the forward finding a teammate with only 13 passes out of 18 for a passing accuracy of 72 percent.
The Englishman managed zero key passes and did not attempt a single cross while he lost the ball seven times. While defensively he tried his best, he still won only 40 percent of his duels.
He managed a grand total of zero interceptions, blocks and tackles and was rightfully subbed off in the second half for Alejandro Garnacho (all stats via sofascore).
Rashford’s starting spot under the scanner
The Argentine was an immediate improvement, asking questions of the Brighton backline and was unlucky not to score when his shot took a deflection off of Joshua Zirkzee, who was offside.
After last season’s horror shows both on and off the pitch, the Mancunian is lucky to still be at the club and starting games.
On current evidence, Erik ten Hag needs to drop him and play the Argentina international in his place as Rashford is clearly not offering much.
INEOS have already warned him about his future at the club and the forward is not showing enough to justify his starting place. How long will the manager persist with him remains to be seen.
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2024-08-24 15:45:05
