Former Manchester United player Owen Hargreaves was far from happy with the club’s attackers’ performance against Sheffield United on Wednesday.
The Red Devils’ unbeaten 13-game Premier League run came to an end when they were surprisingly beaten 2-1 by Chris Wilder’s team. It was the Blades’ first win over United at Old Trafford since 1973.
Kean Bryan headed his first goal in a Sheffield United shirt and gave them the lead in the first half.
United’s Sheffield-born skipper Harry Maguire retired in the second half before Oli Burke restored the Blades’ lead in the 74th minute thanks to a distraction from Axel Tuanzebe.
After the game, Hargreaves criticized the United attackers for not being creative enough. As quoted in the Manchester Evening News, the former England international told Premier League Productions, “You think of (Marcus) Rashford, (Anthony) Martial, (Mason) Greenwood, (Paul) Pogba and (Bruno) Fernandes – that fabulous front Five didn’t really create anything.
“Solskjaer will be angry at the transition at first. I don’t think Sheffield United wanted to attack, but because the top four didn’t want to come back there were only two blocks. The Sheffield United players thought, “Wow, there’s a chance here.” They slowly joined in. “
Sportslens View
Man United dominated possession throughout the game but were not clinical enough in the final third and that cost them a lot of money.
You fired 16 shots on goal, but only four from goal. People like Fernandes, Rashford, Greenwood and Martial just weren’t threatening the Sheffield United goal as much as they should have.
If United are to win the Premier League, they have to avoid performing like that later in the season and be more deadly up front.
The Red Devils remain in second place in the table, Manchester City are one point above, although they have played less.
United’s next game this weekend is against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. They’ll be looking to give the Gunners their first Premier League loss in over a month.
