Manchester United came off one of the most embarrassing victories I can remember on Sunday as despite making an FA Cup final for the second year in a row, the players limped off like they’d lost the tie with them throwing away a comfortable afternoon at Wembley to make things more difficult than anyone expected. With a few days of scrutiny following, the manager and players have stood firm in their belief that the chaotic nature of games would prove good eventually and the results would come. So following this a great opportunity arose in the midweek fixture as they faced the bottom side in the Premier League who are all-but relegated, with a sunny evening in Manchester to set the scene for what should have been a comfortable, ‘put last weekend aside’, style victory… although maybe not quite so simple as we will discuss shortly.

With the injury plagued defence still causing issues for Ten Hag, he added Rashford onto his injury list for this one, as the squad had 2 changes with Rashford missing allowing for an Antony start, and McTominay dropped to the bench in place of Eriksen who was making his first start in 2024.

The game itself was another odd watch, as United were so comfortable on the ball, and despite struggling to be able to break down a resolute Sheffield United defence for the first 30 minutes, they had all the chances and looked like they were eventually going to wear them down. However the script had a twist as Sheffield United twice went ahead, with Bogle and Diaz getting goals on the 35th and 50th minute. Manchester United were forced to fight back on both occasions, as Maguire equalised at 1-1 just before half-time to make it 2 goals in 2 games, before a Fernandes brace settled the tie back in the home sides favour. Rasmus Hojlund was then able to end his drought with the 6th goal of the evening to settle any nerves of a late fight back and Ten Hag was then able to relax his side into comfortable possession for the remaining minutes.

The win all but relegates the away side, however for Ten Hag’s outfit, it’s now a case of securing the Europa League spots and hoping for an FA Cup final upset against the holders and arch rivals City. With the result putting them back in 6th ahead of Newcastle, it makes the final run-in pretty tense, as anything below 7th is expected to be not in Europe, and 7th would result in the worst finish for United in some time, and after pushing a few weeks back for the Champions League spots, to be finishing in the Conference League or below is simply not acceptable.

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Teams

Chris Wilder made a comment a few weeks back about other clubs being in their shoes when it comes to injury hit seasons, however Manchester United and Erik ten Hag could go one better than the 10 missing players for the away side, as 11 players were missing for the home team with Rashford adding to an extensive injury list after the weekend’s Wembley trip.

With an injured XI that would probably be containing several first team options for Ten Hag, it was a decent but mis-matched squad put out for this one. Ten Hag rightly expected to have most of the possession, so putting Eriksen in alongside Mainoo made sense for trying to create opportunities to break down a resolute defence. With his first start of 2024, Eriksen has made his feelings clear about a lack of minutes, and with him only able to make it to around 60 minutes each game, it’s likely that the player and club will be looking for solutions on this one. Meanwhile there was a chance for Garnacho to play back out on the left as Antony replaced the injured Rashford, while in defence Casemiro filled in once again to partner Maguire.

On Sheffield United’s side of things, they were playing a slightly different side with their injury concerns, and the most notable selection was for 19 year old Ollie Arblaster who captained the side out at Old Trafford despite having made only 8 appearances this season for Sheffield United since returning from loan in January at Port Vale. The youngster impressed heavily in trying to shut down attacks from the home teams impressive forward line, and did himself huge credit to show a lot of maturity in the role he was given.

Manchester United: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Casemiro, Maguire, Dalot, Mainoo (Amrabat 90′), Eriksen (McTominay 64′), Fernandes, Garnacho, Antony (Amad Diallo 55′), Hojlund (Wheatley 90′)

Subs: Bayindir, Ogunneye, Amass, Jackson, Forson

Sheffield United: Foderingham, Holgate, Ahmedhodzic, Trusty, Bogle (Norwood 78′), Hamer, Arblaster, Brooks (Costa 46′), Osborn, Brereton Diaz, Archer (McAtee 62′ – Osula 87′)

Subs: Slimane, Grbic, Hampson, Curtis, Larouci

Manchester United 4-2 Sheffield United

Manchester United were dominant in the first 30 minutes as they held onto possession, created some chances and looked for a clear opening against the resolute defence of Sheffield United, who were looking to sit back and take any chances on the counter. They did just that shortly after 30 minutes as United were made to pay for failing to capitalise on their early advantage as Bogle put the away side ahead against the run of play.

It looked to be one of those days for Ten Hag once again as the crowd became subdued by this early setback. It was Harry Maguire with his second goal in the last two games who got the home team level just before the half-time break, which eased the nervous energy beginning to grow around the team.

Going into the second half, Sheffield United took a chance from really nothing as Ben Brereton Diaz tucked away his shot in a jumbled penalty area. With Onana expecting the shot to head into the far corner he almost moved out of the way of the shot, but it gave the bottom of the table side optimism as they took the lead once again.

This time it was Bruno Fernandes who stepped up in the closing third of the game to grab the game by the scruff of the neck to get his side back on track. Despite the ball going into the back of the net, the whistle was blown around the 60 minute mark to give United a penalty for a foul on Harry Maguire which Bruno tucked away with ease. With fans uncertain of their feelings towards this showing due to twice coming from behind, but also much higher expectations, the clock ticked away with headlines being written for another week of failure for Ten Hag and his team.

Bruno Fernandes shone yet again in the final stages as he produced the goal of the game to put the home team ahead for the first time in the match. With a lovely strike from around 30 yards out the defence stepped off and gave Fernandes enough time and space to take a speculative shot from distance which nestled into the back of the net to give the spectators and certainly the manager a huge sigh of relief.

In the closing moments, Fernandes turned provider for Hojlund as he laid on a perfect opportunity which the Danish forward took to end his growing goal drought and secure an expected but well-fought victory for the home side, edging them further to Europa League confirmation and for the visitors the looming relegation. While this certainly wasn’t as comfortable as many would have hoped, with this side currently you have to take the results as they come and simply try and enjoy the ride along the way.

Statistically this was probably one of Manchester United’s strongest showings, with 72% possession, an xG of 2.94 and for once they were the side with 20+ shots (25). It didn’t stop Sheffield United managing 10 shots themselves and leading to goal number 49 and 50 in the Premier League conceded. The 2 goal cushion puts United into +1 goal difference which has to be a target to maintain in the closing weeks of the season no matter the final league placing.

Some other stats from the game came about as Maguire’s equaliser became the goal to take us to the most Premier League goals in a 38 game season, Manchester United scored 4 league goals in a home game for the first time since May 2023 and youngster Ethan Wheatley became Manchester United’s 250th academy graduate to make a first team appearance.

Talking Points

The first talking point from the game has to be Bruno Fernandes who showed true quality that some believe he possesses regularly, while others still are yet to be convinced. With his attitude being a feature that often irritates opposition fans and players, his free positional play being potentially a longer term tactical dilemma and sometimes lacking leadership skills, he can be such a divisive player most weeks but this game showed all the positives of his game. With his side chasing the game twice, Fernandes’ quality shone through, with the second equaliser from the spot, and a brilliant strike late on to turn the game in the home sides favour, he displayed a real attacking threat and level of work rate that has often been missing from several players in this team.

With Fernandes in the side, United are at their best, and I can understand how some will look at his spontaneous periods of popping up out of position and going from being the furthest player forward, to the last man in the blink of an eye, but his reliability to play every minute possible, the running and work rate stats that come every game, and a drive and determination that can often inspire others, Fernandes is a great player to have in any side when you’re needing someone to take a game by the scruff of the neck. I can of course understand the opposition questioning his antics at time and his constant berating of referees and decisions that go against him, however as a fan of the team you have someone who will show the level of fight that so many others in the team have lacked for several years now. I think in games where United are out of possession more and perhaps chasing the game when playing the likes of City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Fernandes can seem like a problem player as he won’t always be where you want him to be on the pitch and not always have that magic to make something happen, but on nights like this when United are in control of possession and chances (even though they were chasing the game on 2 occasions), his quality shines. The front-line of United with Garnacho-Fernandes-Hojlund is a real threat in possession based games or on counter-attacking setups, however there is a missing link on the right (or left depending on Garnacho) which is the missing piece of the puzzle for this season to get this consistent and exciting forward line Ten Hag desires.

Thanks to Bruno, Manchester United were saved from what would have been another embarrassing performance. Being on the back foot of playing catch up for a large part against the bottom side in the league who are days away from confirming relegation isn’t something many fans will be pleased about no matter what, but at least coming away from this week on paper with an FA Cup semi-final win and midweek Premier League victory does boost the stats in United and Ten Hag’s favour, even with the chaotic nature of the performances.

Since starting 2024 with a 7 game unbeaten run, United have stumbled and bumbled their way through this final stretch of the season. With 5 wins coming from 11 games following this (and we are counting the Coventry game in those wins also), United’s form has fallen massively and the performances have become more chaotic as the season goes on. Having come up against admittedly a few sides United would not be viewed as favourites you can almost understand the difficulties, however games have also included Fulham, Brentford, Bournemouth and the recent outings against Coventry and now Sheffield United, where despite getting the result over the line, it’s been harder work than expected.

Standing at 12 Premier League defeats for the season it still stands as the joint-most defeats from any Premier League season United have had, and with some tough games left to go that may well be a record breaking campaign. While I almost accept the defeats coming as I have seen Ten Hag prefer to push for late winners than retreat for a draw, it’s made more worrying by the poor goals and shots totals both for and against. Now with 51 goals from 474 shots, this is the second lowest in the Premier League era with only 15/16 coming up as worse. Meanwhile with goals conceded we are at the 3^rd most of any season (30) with several games to go this could also be a record broken at the expense of this side.

With those negative stats being laid out, it might be questioned why once again we are talking about the negatives after what is on paper another win, but having watched recent games, it’s almost like Ten Hag is throwing away any tactical planning for simply trying to have the better moments on the pitch to drag them through. While we all know he is essentially fighting for his job in these final games, it does seem to be affecting the chaotic nature of things as he just chucks everything and the kitchen sink at trying to get a victory.

There were some other positives though from this game aside from Bruno Fernandes so I do want to bring these back around. Alejandro Garnacho played the full game, Mainoo was given 90 minutes before a late substitution, which is a primary stick to beat Ten Hag with in recent games. Rasmus Hojlund ended his 8 game goal drought for club and country, while Maguire also got on the scoresheet for the second time in as many games, bringing his total to 3 goals this season, only beaten in his career in the 2 final seasons he had for Sheffield United at the end of his time there. On Maguire, I think for him and McTominay, there has been a complete overhaul of their position at the club this campaign, and while they are likely having to accept rotation roles going forward as more players come and go, Maguire looks revitalised this season, and hearing about him playing through injury only adds to fans approval for him to remain at the club. While the finances might still require one of those aforementioned players to depart this summer, United could do with holding on to a reliable centre back who has the ability to create problems at set-pieces and step up in a leadership capacity even without the armband. It was also good to see Eriksen getting a start considering he looks out of favour and likely on his way out this summer.

There are still huge doubts from me in how big the overhaul of players could be this summer window, as looking at the XI who started this game, at least 3 could be on their way out from reports, while in the rest of the squad we could be looking at up to 10 players making their way out, suggesting a huge change in on-field talent as well as off-field recruitments.

The final talking point from this uninspiring yet expected and necessary victory comes from looking into the future and 18-year-old Stockport boy Ethan Wheatley making his first team debut in the closing stages of the game. Not only a significant moment to add to an impressive week for the youngster, but for Manchester United this signifies the 250^th academy graduate to have made an appearance for the first team.

While many will know the record of having an academy product in the squad going back all the way to 1939, it’s a great tradition to promote young players at the club and we could be seeing another household name for years to come on the big stage of Old Trafford from this game.

This week has already been impressive for Wheatley as he was scorer for both goals in the U18 Premier League cup victory to cap an incredible season that saw the youngsters winning the league just a few days prior.

In his minutes late in the game he was involved in a few attacks as United looked to fully kill the game off. Within seconds of coming on he was getting stuck in with a few challenges, had a couple of dangerous runs going forward and despite Bruno Fernandes’ best efforts it wasn’t to be a debut goal for Wheatley on the night, but an impressive cameo nonetheless.

Whatever comes next for the forward in his career, this night and week will be one he will remember for many years to come, and with a momentous honour of being the 250^th graduate it signifies more promising shoots coming from the youth setup at the club which has brought so many great players through prior.

With this promising end, and the impressive efforts of Fernandes and a few others, what could have been another embarrassing result leading to a week of criticism and speculation, can now become an opportunity to push on and secure the European spot (hopefully now in the Europa League) and an FA Cup trophy against arch rivals City to turn around his chaotic campaign.