Another winning goal for Cristiano, but Solskjaer was rescued by another Portuguese magician. New series of rescues at Old Trafford!
Before the game, Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini assessed the state of Manchester United: "They will have a big reaction in front of a large crowd. This is another competition. It can happen that you have a bad run at the start of the season," Gasperini told a news conference on Tuesday. "We are facing a great team, I don't think they are in crisis or in trouble because they lost one game."
At the end of the first half of the face-to-face meeting, Gasperini probably had a different opinion. Manchester United not only failed 45 minutes but stumbled wherever they could and revealed all their weaknesses to Atalanta.
Still not fully finished Harry Maguire. Lindelof-Maguire's traditional center-of-defense discord. Too risky play in the support zone, which the opponents saturate. For Atalanta, the first half turned out to be even too simple: first, Mario Pashalich found himself in a quick attack, and later Demiral made Maguire a hero of memes (again).
United had approaches, nice quick lunges, but everything was too nervous. Plus, Demiral came out with the mood to stop at least Rashford, even Ronaldo. 0: 2 at Old Trafford after the scuffle that Leicester inflicted in the Premier League (2: 4 away) - during the break, the English experts mentioned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer more and more loudly in one sentence with the words "new", "Zidane".
Before the match, information appeared that the club was in contact with Zinedine, and on the advice of Ronaldo. And the speculation brought an insight that some of the players consider Solskjaer to be too soft a coach.
Another United came out of the locker room. And the scenario of the match with Villarreal was repeated. Solskjaer's team began to play much bolder, turned the pressure to the maximum, connected the full-backs (which is worth one Wan-Bissaki sprint), and turned on the mutual exchange of energy with the stands. The overcrowded Old Trafford once again brought the team back the feeling that a miracle was possible.
In the 53rd minute, Bruno cut out his typical assists for Rashford, and he closed the gap in the account. Solskjaer released Pogba and Cavani, freeing Ronaldo from his center-forward role. At first, Maguire took advantage of the situation. For him, this goal is generally very important. The United captain will never come to his senses after the injury: the failure with Leicester is almost nominal, the appearance of Rafael Varane raised the question of who is really the coolest defender in the team. And then there are the goals of Atalanta.
Cavani is a master of creating space and teamwork. His presence finished off the defense of Atalanta, which already fell in the second half under chaotic attacks. In the second half of the half, Cristiano disappeared on the flank in order to appear in the penalty area at the right moment and catch Luke Shaw's cross.
This goal is in his personal museum. Ronaldo has scored 38 different clubs in the Champions League, a record.
Although the real genius of this match is Bruno Fernandes. With Ronaldo joining Manchester United, his influence seems to have diminished. Even free throws Cristiano began to take for himself more and more often. But Manchester United's game is still based on Bruno's algorithms. In this match Cristiano Ronaldo has:
- another scoring feature - in every Champions League match this season;
- 11 single combats, 9 of them won;
- 5 selection attempts, 4 of them successful;
- Created 9 chances, of which 4 are great chances;
- 3 hits;
- 1 scoring
Having made two comebacks, Manchester United took the lead in the group. And in a very strange mood prepares to host Liverpool at home on Sunday 24 October. Old Trafford will definitely be ready.
As for Solskjaer, Gary Lineker suggests not to write it off on Twitter: "Every single time you think Ole's hands have slipped off the wheel, out of nowhere, somehow, he grabs hold of it again."
Will it work again?
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