Former Manchester United player Owen Hargreaves was far from pleased with how the club’s attackers performed against Sheffield United on Wednesday.
The Red Devils’ 13-match unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end as they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by Chris Wilder’s team. It marked the Blades’ first win over United at Old Trafford since 1973.
Kean Bryan headed in his first goal in a Sheffield United shirt to put them in the lead midway during the first half.
United’s Sheffield-born skipper Harry Maguire pulled one back in the second half before Oli Burke restored the lead for the Blades in the 74th minute courtesy of a deflection from Axel Tuanzebe.
Following the match, Hargreaves criticised United’s attackers for not being creative enough. As quoted by Manchester Evening News, the former England international told Premier League Productions: “You think about (Marcus) Rashford, (Anthony) Martial, (Mason) Greenwood, (Paul) Pogba and (Bruno) Fernandes – that fabulous front five didn’t really create anything.
“Solskjaer will be furious with the transition initially. I don’t think Sheffield United wanted to attack but because the front four didn’t want to come back, there was only really two blocks. The Sheffield United players thought, ‘wow, there is a chance here’. They joined in slowly.”
Sportslens View
Man United dominated the possession throughout the match but weren’t clinical enough in the final third and that cost them dearly.
They took 16 shots on goal but only four of them on target. The likes of Fernandes, Rashford, Greenwood and Martial just didn’t threaten the Sheffield United goal as much as they should have.
If United are to win the Premier League, they will have to avoid producing performances like these during the remainder of the season and be more lethal up front.
The Red Devils remain in second position in the table with Manchester City a point above despite having played a match fewer.
United’s next match is against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this weekend and they will be looking to hand the Gunners their first Premier League defeat in over a month.
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