Manchester United 1-0 Watford: 5 talking points

Manchester United picked up their fourth win in a row in all competitions with a narrow 1-0 win over Watford at Old Trafford in the Premier League. After defeating Arsenal 3-2 on Sunday in a fine display of energy and vigour, the Red Devils were lucky to claim victory against the Hornets in an insipid performance at home.It was Quique Sanchez Flores’ side who had the better chances and should have won the game ideally, but some poor finishing and some heroic goalkeeping by David De Gea saw them leave empty handed from the Theatre of Dreams, a venue where they have never managed a league win in their entire history. As far as United are concerned, Louis van Gaal will gladly take the three points but will also look to lift his side’s performances as they looked to have returned to their ‘boring boring’ style of play after a week where they scored 11 goals in three games. Here are the talking points from the game.

#1 Starts for Martial, Fosu-Mensah and Rashford

The match saw summer signing Anthony Martial return to the starting lineup after he was injured in the pre-game warmup against FC Midtjylland last week. The Frenchman, who has impressed so far with his pace and finishing, started on the right wing for United as playing up front was the Red Devils' latest sensation Marcus Rashford.

After netting a couple of braces in the Europa League and the Premier League against Arsenal, the youngster found himself in the starting lineup once again against Watford. He gave in a good shift as he impressed with his lightning-quick pace and dribbling. He made a crucial save off the line while defending a corner and was a genuine threat in the second half as he was moved to the right wing by van Gaal.

Making his first Premier League start was 18-year old defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah as he slotted in the centre of defense along with compatriot Daley Blind. He received an early booking in the 23rd minute but maintained his composure well, making crucial interceptions and interventions, including a last-ditch sliding tackle on Odion Ighalo.

#2 Watford were the better team over the 90 minutes

Watford manager Quique Sanchez Florez and the rest of the team will leave Old Trafford cursing themselves as they missed some glorious opportunities in both halves to score. They were the more incisive of the two sides and had multiple chances to take the lead, and had also successfully managed to keep the United attack at bay except for a few minutes in the second half.

Ighalo, who has scored 16 goals this season for the Hornets, was guilty of missing some gilt-edged chances and showed a lack of awareness as he chose to shoot on goal quite a few times in situations where his teammates were clearly in much better positions.Troy Deeney and substitute Nordin Amrabat both missed half-chances as their side just could not find the back of the net.

The best chance came in the 80th minute as Austrian centre-back Sebastian Prodl nodded wide from a corner from seemingly point-blank range. United were lucky not only with the miss, but also as the referee could have easily awarded Watford a penalty as Matteo Darmian clearly looked to have pulled back Prodl while he was attempting to get his head to the ball.

#3 Captain Mata saves the day

Leading the Red Devils for the very first time was playmaker Juan Mata and he conjured up a moment of magic in the 83rd minute with a sublime free kick that gave Heurelho Gomes absolutely no chance. United had been poor in attack throughout the game and were fighting for their lives to avoid conceding, but this bolt from the blue from the Spanish magician gave his side a crucial victory.

United had been on the backfoot for most parts of the game and with just a few minutes to go, Anthony Martial picked up the ball in the middle of the park and took the chance to run at the Watford defense. He was hauled down by former Napoli man Miguel Britos, who received a yellow card for the clumsy challenge.

Mata, who had scored from a freekick against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup a week-and-a-half back, curled the ball with the inside of his left foot into the top-left corner, leaving the keeper completely stranded. The man with the armband picked the perfect moment to put his side ahead and helped them eke out a crucial win against an inspired Watford side.

#4 Signs of fatigue for Daley Blind

As United fielded yet another makeshift defense given the state of the injury crisis, Watford looked to catch them off guard with some incessant pressing and by playing high up the pitch. This strategy worked like a charm for the side in yellow as they were able to take the ball off the United defense in their defensive third and make serious threats on goal.

Unde such bombardment, the United centre-backs found themselves guilty of various misplaced passes that could have seriously cost them had Watford been more clinical with their finishing. Both Fosu-Mensah and Blind made terrible errors at the back and somehow got away with them as David De Gea saved his side’s blushes and Ighalo looked out of sorts in front of goal.

Blind, who has been the only constant in United’s merry-go-round of defenders this season, looked terribly fatigued during the game as he made some glaring errors and poorly-times tackles. It was the Dutchman’s fourth full game in 10 days and Louis van Gaal will surely be looking to give him a deserved rest in the next game if the injury situation clears up.

#5 Champions League dream still on for United?

louis van gaal — Can LVG guide United to the CL with 10 league matches remaining?

In a dramatic Matchday 28 in the Premier League, all teams in the top 4 suffered hiccups to their title challenges as leaders Leicester City drew at home to West Brom, while Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City lost their games against West Ham, Swansea and Liverpool respectively. This means that the Red Devils are now level on points (47) with fourth-placed Man City, who have a game in hand.

United had been written off from a top-four finish in the past few weeks after some poor results, but thanks to their rivals slipping up and wins over Arsenal and Watford in the last two games, they will now look to pull their socks up and make a charge towards fourth place with just 10 games left to play.

West Ham, Stoke City and Liverpool (one game in hand) are breathing down United’s necks and will also look to eclipse the Red Devils in the coming weeks. United have gathered some serious momentum with four wins on the trot and will want the run to continue as they travel to the Hawthorns on Sunday.

Edited by Staff Editor