Roses Are Red

I have seen many matches between Manchester United and Leeds United in the past but what I witnessed in the wee hours of Monday morning was unique. As a football match, it is unusual as well as it was played with the free-flowing, cavalier spirit of basketball. The action oscillated from one end to the other at a hundred miles an hour without much respite.

Everything We Touched Turned Into Gold

Our home form contrasts sharply against our away form so it was a pleasant surprise to take the lead after two minutes in the game. But immediately after that goal, my mind turned to the last time we took an early lead in a league match played at Old Trafford. That day, we went on to lose 1-6, utter humiliation and indignation. A second goal a minute after gave me a bit more confidence that this match would not go that way. It looked like every time we went forward, we could get past Leeds’ defence and score or at least test the goalkeeper. The match emanated the feeling that this was one of those matches where everything we touched turned into gold or in this case, every shot was a goal. The closest I remember to a match like this was the 7-1 drubbing we handed AS Roma in the 2006-07 Champions League.

Not So Perfect After All

However, as good as our attacks were, overall it was not a perfect performance. Leeds allowed us space to attack but that is because their philosophy is to take the game to their opponents. They have quality going forward as well to trouble us. What worried and displeased me was that we were rather loose in our midfield possession, ceding it easily to our opponents. Defensively, we weren’t looking solid either as there were some scary moments of our own doing.  However, compared to our opponents, we were far more solid and resolute than them in defence. Leeds did score once for all their nearly moments when their captain, Liam Cooper rose high to head in a corner.

More Goals In The Second Half

In the second half with the score at 4-1, United had lesser of the possession as Leeds didn’t give up hope of a miraculous comeback and kept pouring forward. It looked like we had taken our foot a bit off the pedal so it was against the run of the play that we scored our fifth instead through Dan James. Pre-match, there were murmurs and complaints on why James was starting, he answered his critics with a hard-working, lung-busting performance over 90 minutes with a goal to his name. There was time for a sixth when we got a customary penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes, his second of the night and his last involvement as well. Leeds scored the final goal of the game through a stupendous shot by Stuart Dallas. It was a top-quality goal but I felt we gave him too much room to get his shot away.

McTominay, Man Of The Match

Scott McTominay, the unlikely scorer of our first two goals was the Man Of The Match. Scoring two goals helped so did his box-to-box performance, full of energy and verve. The match ended with a total of 43 attempts on goal, 14 shots on target for Manchester United and 3 for Leeds. Out of the three that David De Gea saved, the standout would have to be a great save off Rapinha at close range.

Closer To The Top

A performance and result like that would give everyone associated with the club a huge boost and a spring in their step. Let’s not forget as well that we beat historically, one of our most hated rivals. It is a rivalry that is not felt as much far away in Singapore and Malaysia but being a fan for close to three decades now, I understand how much hatred there is from Leeds fans for us and vice versa. This win has propelled us into third place with one game in hand and if we win that, we will be second, two points away from Liverpool.

Don’t Get Carried Away

I would advise against getting too carried away. Enjoy the win and take it a game at a time. With this United team, we never know when it might betray you. Also, to be honest, it doesn’t look like a championship-winning or challenging team. The consistency that I keep harping about needs to be achieved, the mentality still needs to improve as is the quality of individual players and the team overall.