Manchester United secured a winter hibernation in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. On a visit to competitor Villarreal, the team of interim coach Michael Carrick was 0-2 too strong. Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho produced the goals. Later in the evening, Atalanta and Young Boys will play in Group F. Although United can still be overtaken by the Italians on paper, the team will trump Villarreal based on mutual results.
Carrick, the temporary successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, made several changes compared to the lost league match against Watford (4-1). He could not have Luke Shaw, so Alex Telles took over as left-back. Nemanja Matic, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford have lost their starting spot, creating space for Fred, Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial. Van de Beek appeared in an official game for the first time since the EFL Cup game against West Ham United (September 22). At Villarreal, Arnaut Danjuma got a basic place.
Who else! ????? Cristiano Ronaldo mercilessly punishes a slack moment in the back at Villarreal ??
His fifth of the Champions League season in as many games! ??
#ZiggoSport #UCL #VILMUN pic.twitter.com/uwu8DHkuAH
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 23, 2021
Although United fired the first warning shot in the second minute, the home side quickly took control. After four minutes, goalkeeper David De Gea had to act for the first time. After beautiful combination football, Moi Gómez made a good attempt, but his diagonal shot was parried by the closing post. A few minutes later, Yéremy Pino also contributed; however, his shot ended up in the side net.
De Gea showed his class again halfway through the first act. This time Manuel Trigueros lacked fortune in the finish. On the other side, Ronaldo showed himself for the first time after half an hour of playing with a header, which, however, did not yield a goal. Moments later, Danjuma also appeared in the scene. However, due to the lack of control in the box, he failed to produce a dangerous attempt. Villarreal was the parent in the first act, while the Red Devils De Gea in particular could thank that it was still 0-0.
Van de Beek played an extremely unfortunate first half and he was the one with the fewest ball contacts on the side of the visitors. As a result, Carrick decided to replace the Dutchman with Bruno Fernandes immediately after the break. Although United got away well after an hour of play when Trigueros was stopped from scoring, they quickly got a better grip on the game. In the 69th, Marcus Rashford failed to cash in on a nice deep pass from Harry Maguire; a few minutes later, Jadon Sancho hit goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli with a hard shot into the bottom corner.
Jadon Sancho ??
He is the end station of a nice Manchester United attack: 0-2 ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #VILMUN pic.twitter.com/XLdu7amKLE— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 23, 2021
United’s opening goal came in the 78th minute. Étienne Capoue made a flash in the defense and was kicked off the ball after pressure from Fred. Ronaldo took maximum advantage of the blunder and put his team at 0-1 with a lob over Rulli. The final chord was played in the last minute of regular time. Rashford put the ball on the edge of the box with Fernandes, who suddenly bounced to Sancho. The latter shot in flawlessly from the short corner: 0-2.