Manchester United 3-0 Watford: 3 key observations from the match

Manchester United beat Watford 3-0 in a Premier League match yesterday at Old Trafford, to climb to the 5th position in the League table with 41 points from 27 matches.

United now trail the 4th placed Chelsea by 3 points. On the other hand, Watford remain at the 19th position with 24 points from 27 matches.

For United, Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood scored in the 42nd, 58th and 75th minutes respectively. It was an emphatic win for United, as they avenged their 0-2 loss against Watford in December 2019.

It was also their second successive league win after last week’s impressive win over Chelsea. The United supporters would now be hopeful of a top 4 finish, which would enable the Red Devils to play in UEFA Champions League next season.

On that note, we now take a look at three key observations from yesterday’s match:

#1 Daniel James worked tirelessly through the left flank

Daniel James

Daniel James started as the left winger in the 4-2-3-1 formation and was tireless in his approach throughout the match. With Luke Shaw not making too many overlapping runs and primarily staying in his own half, James had to take on additional workload - and he played his role to perfection.

He frequently fell back to his own half to collect balls and then create moves from the middle third. The opening goal resulted from one such move, as James fell back to collect the ball, ran into the opposition half and delivered a near-perfect through ball to Bruno Fernandes, who was tripped inside the box by the Watford goalkeeper. United were awarded a penalty and Fernandes himself scored from the spot.

James’ performance was even more important considering the fact that Mason Greenwood, who started as the right winger, was not very impressive in the first half - and therefore, most of United’s attacks were through the left flank. James continued his good work in the second half too, and cut in from the wing to enter into the opposition penalty box occasionally.

#2 Bruno Fernandes provided the creative spark in the middle

Bruno Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes delivered a top-notch performance in the middle of the park to inspire United to a resounding win. He started as the No. 10, and excelled in that role throughout. Fernandes roamed around seamlessly in the opposition half, and created numerous attacking moves for United.

As mentioned earlier, Fernandes earned United a penalty in the first half and scored from it. He then played a forward pass to Anthony Martial in the second half, and the latter finished in brilliant fashion.

Fernandes was to be involved in the third goal as well, as he played a one-two with Mason Greenwood before the latter finished with a rasping right-footer from the edge of the Watford penalty box.

Fernandes could have had yet another assist, as his impeccable delivery found Harry Maguire unmarked in the opposition box. However, the tall United centre-back only managed to head the ball wide.

Fernandes kept moving to the flanks repeatedly to play close passes to the wingers and open up spaces in the final third. He combined particularly well with James through the left flank.

#3 The impressive form of Anthony Martial continues

Anthony Martial

Anthony Martial scored in his third successive match for United, and was one of the standout players on the pitch. He scored a brilliant goal in the second half to take his tally to 63 goals in 205 matches for United.

Martial received the ball from Fernandes inside the Watford box. He then outmaneuvered a couple of players with a sharp turn, and chipped the ball past the goalkeeper with consummate ease.

It was Martial’s 15th goal of the ongoing season and also probably the pick of the lot. He could have added to his tally yesterday itself, had the United players been more selfless with their passing. The likes of James and Greenwood were guilty of not releasing the ball to Martial at times.

Even Fernandes was guilty of trying to play the ball too quickly on occasion, with Martial in his vicinity. However, it was a quality performance from the French forward, and his display would have definitely pleased Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.