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Manchester United's torrid season came to a pathetic end as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men meekly surrendered 2-0 at home to a relegated Cardiff City side. The Bluebirds took the lead in the 23rd minute after United wing-back Diego Dalot fouled striker Nathaniel Mandez-Laing inside the box. The English striker made no mistake, smashing in the resultant penalty into the right corner, giving goalkeeper David de Gea no chance. United rookie Mason Greenwood was the only good spark in their attack as the Red Devils failed to create any decent chances. Cardiff deservedly scored again in the 54th minute, with Josh Murphy cutting the ball across the six-yard box for an easy tap-in for Mandez-Laing. As they have done all season, United lacked ideas, leadership and character on Sunday.
Solskjaer's side had been mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the Champions League even before the match and the lack of motivation was clear to be seen. United fans as well as rival fans were quick to roast the Red Devils, especially after the early promise the team had shown when Solksjaer had just taken over as interim manager from Jose Mourinho in December. To rub salt into their wound, arch-rivals Liverpool have reached the final of the Champions League where they will face another Premier League side in Tottenham Hotspur. Cross-city rivals Manchester City have become the first side to defend the Premier League crown since Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary 2008-08 United side. The other Premier League heavyweights Arsenal and Chelsea are set to battle it out in the UEFA Europa League final, all the while United lying trophyless and without Champions League football to look forward to next season. Solskjaer sounded disappointed in his post match press conference.
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"We’ve been poor. We’ve hit a brick wall towards the end of the season. Very disappointing.
"The big plus is the season’s over, draw a big line over it and look forward. Because we know we are too far behind where we want to be, 98 and 97 points is exceptional, the two teams, we’re five or six behind third, fourth, fifth and that’s realistically who we need to challenge for next year.”
Twitter was quick to roast United, following their disappointing outing against Cardiff City at Old Trafford.
