CAVANI RESCUES A POINT FOR UNITED AS THEIR DREADFUL FORM CONTINUES

It's 4 O'Clock in the morning and I should be well asleep by now, but here I am seriously questioning my life choices because what I just saw was certainly not good for my mental health. That's an average Man Utd fan nowadays. 

On Monday night, there was a spark of excitement and confidence in me upon seeing my idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, play after a long break of 16 days due to a Covid outbreak inside the club. And well that spark died within the first 7 minutes of the game as Newcastle scored the opening goal and took a well-deserved lead. Varane was absolutely terrible in this game and I'd rather save my rant on Maguire for the end of the season. Basically, another dreadful performance by the Red Devils and 2 crucial points dropped.

It was surprising to see that even after scoring an early goal, Newcastle didn't sit back to protect their lead and instead they went on to hit Utd on the counter again and again to find that 2 goal cushion. The match ended in a 1-1 draw which could've easily gone either way. Newcastle was clearly the better side and without the heroics of David De Gea, Man Utd surely would've lost this game.

The match started with Ronaldo and Greenwood as the 2 forwards, Bruno and Rashford as the two wide midfielders infront of a double pivot of Fred and Mctominay. Due to the formation used by Ralf Rangnick, Utd got completely overrun in the midfield. Saint- Maximin ran a complete havoc throughout the game with neither Varane nor Maguire even coming close to containing him. He scored the opening goal and caused trouble for Utd every time he got the ball.

The way Eddie Howe set up his team forced Utd to play long balls because they weren't able to break down their opponent's low block. His plan clearly worked as Utd's main creator, Bruno Fernandes, had a night to forget. He got frustrated early on after which he was just spamming meaningless long balls.

Man Utd's superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, also cut a frustrated figure as he got no service whatsoever and got a yellow card after he failed to keep him cool by committing a reckless challenge on Ryan Fraser.

Fun fact: The Red Devils lost possession 167 times against Newcastle, their highest total in the Premier League this season. This sums up their performance perfectly.

In the second half, we got to see Utd having most of the ball but struggling to create goalscoring opportunities. Edinson Cavani scored a scrappy equaliser in the 71st minute to bring the scoreline to 1-1 but we didn't get to see much else. After a decent run of games, Fred and Mctominay gave in a really poor performance which we had grown accustomed to during the Ole era.

The Man of The Match, for me, was undoubtedly David De Gea. If you look at the number of goals he has conceded this season then you might think that he has been bang average, but the actual football enthusiasts know that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world right now.

With almost the whole squad back, there are absolutely no excuses for Utd to play the way they did especially against a club that is currently sitting on the 19th spot fighting to avoid relegation. To put this into perspective, Red Devils have scored a total of 26 goals this season while their local rivals, Manchester City, have scored 23 goals in December itself. 

Currently, Man Utd are 10 points off the 4th spot with 2 games in hand. I won't say they are out of the top 4 race since half of the season is still left to play out. But with Arsenal and Spurs playing the way they are right now, Man Utd have to be on their A-game if they are serious about their ticket for the Champions League next season.