ARB Leipzig has not been able to stop Manchester United’s dominance of almost two decades at Old Trafford against German teams. The team of coach Julian Nagelsmann went down with the English record champions 5-0 (0-1) on Wednesday evening and had to give up the championship lead in Group H of the premier class with their first competitive defeat of the season. After the opening win against Basaksehir, RB are now level on points with Paris Saint-Germain. The French previously won 2-0 in Istanbul. The last German victory in the time-honored venue in Manchester was achieved by FC Bayern Munich in 2000/2001 (1-0).
“It’s hard to find words when you’ve lost 5-0,” said Emil Forsberg, who went straight to the analysis after the biggest away defeat in the premier class: “We got into the game well, the game with the ball was first Half-time good, but we have to find better solutions in the last third. We didn’t put enough pressure on their defense in the pits either. “
Mason Greenwood (21st minute), the youngest player on the field at 19, shot the Red Devils in front of the ghost backdrop at Old Trafford, before Rashford with three goals (73./78./90.+2) and Anthony Martial made the first home win of the season perfect with a penalty kick (87th). Before that, there was a 1: 3 against Crystal Palace in the Premiere League, a crashing 1: 6 debacle against Tottenham Hotspur and a 0: 0 against Chelsea.
Nagelsmann, who stood out on the sidelines with a gray checkered jacket, initially left Marcel Sabitzer and Tyler Adams, who were recently slightly battered, on the bench. In the back three of the central defense, the Frenchman Ibrahima Konaté was preferred to Willi Orban. Man United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer surprised with Paul Pogba on the left and with Donny van de Beek in midfield and surprisingly did without Rashford in the starting line-up. For this he bet on Greenwood, which paid off immediately.
The striker ran away from Dayot Upamecano on the half left after a Pogba pass in a suspicious position and pushed past RB keeper Peter Gulacsi for the lead (21st). Despite a double check by the video referees, the hit was not withdrawn. For the Saxons it was a wake-up call: First Christopher Nkunku (21st) tested United keeper David de Gea, then Kevin Kampl (24th) got stuck with his shot in defense. RB tried hard, but could not playfully set accents against running hosts.
After the change, RB increased the pace, played the balls more directly and thus had more freedom in switching situations. Most of the time, however, it was the end of the line at the penalty area. Man United remained enormously present in the duels and played more precisely on the offensive. After a good hour Nagelsmann brought in first Captain Sabitzer, then the Norwegian Alexander Soerloth – Solskjaer parallel to Rashford.
The equalizer for RB prevented in the 65th minute de Gea with a brilliant save after a header from Konaté from close range. On the other hand, Gulacsi (71st) was spot on after a set piece against Anthony Martial who jumped in. Then the show of the substitute Rashford started, who turned three times as cold as ice.
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