Manchester United are firm favourites to advance into the pre-quarterfinals of the Europa League as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hat-trick guided them to victory over St. Etienne in the first leg of their Round of 32 tie at Old Trafford.
Also Read: UEFA Europa League 2016/17: Manchester United 3-0 AS Saint-Etienne, Player Ratings
A deflected free-kick, a follow-up from a rebounded shot and a penalty was how the Swedish striker completed his hat-trick in a game where St. Etienne were guilty of missing a number of promising goal-scoring opportunities.
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Here are the talking points from the game at Old Trafford:
#1 Eric Bailly has a shocking start
The game began in a manner totally against the script of play, as it was the French visitors who looked the more likely to score thanks to some rudimentary errors at the back by summer signing Eric Bailly. A misplaced pass in his defensive third was nearly punished as Romain Hamouma was unable to get a shot away.
Minutes later, a fluffed clearance by the Ivorian saw Hamouma in the act again, forcing Romero to come out of his goal, but failing to square a pass to a St. Etienne teammate, who would have had the opportunity to shoot at an empty net. United were let off the hook twice in the opening five minutes and St. Etienne will rue that they did not take advantage of Bailly’s rustiness in the opening stages of the game.
#2 Zlatan’s free-kick should have been dealt with
United’s first major opportunity came in the 15th minute, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic controversially won a free-kick just outside the penalty area. He lined it up and his ankle-high shot was fired straight into the wall. A cruel deflection saw the ball trickle into the net, with the goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier taken out of the picture as he was already committed to a dive from the initial direction of the free-kick.
The St. Etienne players should have done better to deal with the free-kick as a significant amount of pace was taken off the free-kick thanks to the deflection. It was a soft goal to concede for the visitors after a bright start, considering the pace with which the ball found its way into the back of the net. The absence of cover around the goal-line was undoubtedly a defensive error on the part of the St Etienne players.
#3 St. Etienne’s lack of an out-and-out striker costs them dear
St. Etienne’s reaction to going behind was absolutely sensational. They pressed United hard, got their full-backs, Florentin Pogba and Kevin Malcuit, to advance high up the pitch and exploit gaps in the United defence to get a shot away. The rate at which St. Etienne peppered the Red Devils’ goal in the latter stages of the first half worried Jose Mourinho, as he made a disgusted walk down the tunnel before half-time.
However, St. Etienne will probably rue not having the luxury of a quality centre-forward to put away all the chances that were created. They have scored just 30 league goals so far in Ligue 1 and their top-scorer Romain Hamouma has just seven goals in all competitions.
Goals have been the French outfit’s issue this season and this was clearly evident at Old Trafford. Despite all the brilliant approach play, they relied on shots from long range – Henri Saivet, Kevin Monnet-Pacquet and Vincent Pajot, were all unable to finish off what looked like promising goal-scoring chances.
It was desperate defending from the Manchester United centre-halves Bailly and Chris Smalling, as they had to get bodies in the way of shots. St. Etienne’s positivity in the attacking third made for a great contest, but it was the absence of a recognised number 9 that will really come back to haunt them.
#4 One-way traffic in the second half
After the first-half scare, it seemed as if Mourinho’s stern team-talk had its effect on the players. Jesse Lingard was brought on for an ineffective Marouane Fellaini at half-time to add more pace into United’s attack – which was secondary to their opponents until that point despite the lead; they got off to a bright start with Juan Mata seeing a point-blank shot well saved by Ruffier.
The second half saw St. Etienne’s attacking unit die out significantly as United were much more settled and organised at the back and Ander Herrera stuck to a defensive midfield role, sitting in front of his back four to make interceptions and ball-recovery tackles. This gave United’s frontmen the license to have a go at the St. Etienne defence and they were rewarded with a further two goals to get a firm grip on the tie.
Another substitute, Marcus Rashford, made his presence felt by driving past St. Etienne’s players using his pace and fleet-footedness, whereas Lingard used his pace to stretch the full-backs. It was a typical Manchester Untied display in the second half, but one can argue that they were lucky not to concede an away goal in the first half and go into the second leg with a clean sheet.
#5 Referee’s inconsistency did not benefit St. Etienne
Although United probably deserved the victory on the balance of play, St. Etienne were being given no favours by referee Pavel Kralovec, who made a number of dubious calls during the game. His decision to award the free-kick to Zlatan was debatable, as many felt that the Swede had thrown himself to the pitch under pressure from a St. Etienne player to meet a pass.
The away side would have felt hard done by, when they saw the resulting free-kick creep into the net.
Minutes later, Daley Blind appeared to show intent in tripping Jorginho inside the box after the latter had managed to win the ball from him. However, the Czech official did not point to the spot despite initially appearing to agree to appeals from the St. Etienne’s players.
The referee’s inconsistency was confirmed in the 87th minute, when he awarded Manchester United a very soft penalty after Ibrahimovic made the most of the contact from a St. Etienne defender behind him. St. Etienne will be feeling a sense of injustice as they look to overturn a three-goal deficit in the second leg at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichar
