Watford 4-1 Manchester United: 5 talking points as Red Devils fall to another humiliating loss | Premier League 2021-22

Manchester United's calamitous season continued following a shocking 4-1 loss at the hands of Watford in the Premier League.

Joshua King, Ismaila Sarr, Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Bonaventure all scored apiece for the Bees, eclipsing Donny van de Beek's goal for the visitors.

The Red Devils were all over the place once again, making too many defensive mistakes that have plagued their campaign so far. Harry Maguire was also sent off after the break after he received a second yellow card.

This was their fifth defeat of the season in 12 games, condemning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's troops to seventh in the league standings. Meanwhile Watford moved four points clear of the relegation zone.

Here are the major talking points from the match:

---

#5 New game, same old mistakes by Manchester United

Manchester United have now conceded 21 goals - one more than what they've scored!

Manchester United were let down by yet more calamitous defending, resulting in four more goals conceded. It was the third time in the league this season they've conceded so much in a single game.

The ease with which Watford cut a swathe through their mighty visitors was shocking, with their marauding wingers stretching United's defense wide.

The latter also wasn't helped by individual mistakes, with Scott McTominay conceding a penalty. Aaron Wan-Bissaka was easily beaten for the first goal and Harry Maguire got himself sent off as well.

The Red Devils continue to concede goals like there's no tomorrow. In fact, they've kept only two clean sheets in the league so far. Unless this changes, their top-four ambitions are going to fizzle out earlier than expected.

---

#4 Third time's the charm for Ismaila Sarr

Sarr scored his fifth goal of the season after missing a penalty

After missing two penalties in quick succession, Ismaila Sarr redeemed himself with a fine goal, Watford's second of the night.

He stood up to take a spot-kick in the ninth minute that was saved by De Gea. Although Kiko Femenia was on hand to tap home the rebound, the referee asked for it to be retaken due to encroachment.

Sarr stepped up once again and it was saved by the Spanish goalkeeper once again. He palmed away Sarr's tame effort as the Watford striker appeared to lack confidence in front of goal.

But determined to right the wrong, the Senegalese continued to test United. He found redemption in the 44th minute, drilling a low shot into the far post to make it 2-0.

It was also his fifth goal of the season, the most in Watford's squad.

#3 Donny van de Beek makes a statement to Ole

Van de Beek scored just five minutes after coming on!

Donny van de Beek had only 16 minutes of gametime under his belt before today. He came on at half-time for Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked to shake things up.

It took the estranged Dutchman only five minutes to make an impact. He scored a goal by heading in from two yards out off a brilliant Ronaldo layoff, also a header, to make it 2-1.

He later proceeded to create a good chance for the Portuguese with a defence-splitting pass. However, the latter ended up wasting it by firing his effort wide off target.

Even though his performance was resounding enough to have a major impact, he at least put up a fine display. He showed Ole why he should be starting the former Ajax player in every game.

---

#2 Wasteful Cristiano Ronaldo must take blame along with Ole

Ronaldo has only one league goal in his last seven games

Underfire Ole will definitely face calls for sacking once again after this torrid game. But Ronaldo must also take a share of it for his own wastefulness in the attack.

The 36-year-old could've well had a hat-trick on the night on any other day. He wasted three good chances in the second half that could've also saved his side from this humiliating loss.

At first, he shot over the bar after going one-on-one with Ben Forster, although it did deflect off the goalkeeper on its way. Ronaldo fired another close-range effort wide before heading over the bar once again from a few yards out.

With just one league goal in his last seven, Ronaldo's own poor form cannot be ignored. He's certainly not helping himself, or the team, with his frustrating wastefulness.

---

#1 How many more humiliations before Ole is sacked?

Ole apologized to United fans - but is that enough?

Now, it's not a question of if, but when. Because even after their latest humiliation, if Ole remains at the helm of United, then it's nothing but a suicide mission for the club.

How many more embarrassing results is it going to take before the people running Manchester United to realize he isn't the right man for the job? That he can't lead this team to silverware success?

A team consisting of Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, etc., shouldn't be struggling like this, let alone get humiliated week in, week out.

Yes, their defense has been woeful, but Ole hasn't been able to find a solution for that either, whilst also struggling to settle upon a fixed starting XI.

The longer he stays, the more such results will follow.