With the memories of some brilliant football against Stoke City still fresh and Grant being the only reason for United to have not scored, history repeated itself in a very short span. This time though, it was Heaton who was in the form of his life; a form so golden that it could make Buffon or Neuer look up in awe too. The final score indicates and also is pointed out by ‘score line readers’ as another poor game from United but lady luck might have taken this a bit too far. Where did United go wrong? To be fair, nowhere at all, except maybe Heaton was too good or our finishing was not top notch.
What went wrong?
This is a question I’d like to not worry too much about, apart from the fact that its three more valuable points United have lost from the top. Ibrahimovic had another game where key passes were not converted. While he created some himself his finishing was pathetic. Performance wise, United have had their best game in years with total dominance – a whopping 37 shots, 30 of which were saved, blocked or hit the woodwork. Instead of worrying about the negatives I’d like to point out for a change, why United fans can be happy about this if they can ignore the trolls and memes out there and more importantly, the shoreline.
Pogba had his best game in a United jersey
89 Million Flop Paul Pogba had his best game for the Red Devils with some sensational long balls, take ons and 6 key passes. It remains to be seen as to how many key chances from the Frenchman will go to a waste. Hopefully, United can fire with Mkhitaryan and Martial returning to the team. Paul Pogba thrived once again and will continue to do so as long as he has no responsibility of a number 10. He is United’s top key passer and to say that he isn’t doing anything for the side is utter and complete tomfoolery.
Creativity is the least of United’s worries
United created 29 chances i.e. 29 key passes which basically meant 29 chances to score from! 37 shots overall and the failure to score a single goal? Surely one cannot blame tactics here because there is a high probability of scoring from these many chances, even the likes of Bebe. Fortunately United won’t have to face someone like Heaton in every game; however, they do not create this easily in every game either. Ibrahimovic might need the Rooney treatment as he holds no special right over the other players. It would be nice to see Rashford upfront yet again after a scintillating start to his United career from the same position.
Heaton was much more than a mere wall
If anyone thought that those games in FIFA where Neuer or Buffon would save every shot were just mere virtual incidents then think again! Heaton is the only reason Burnley didn’t have an embarrassing score line at the end of the day. Who’d have thought that a former United academy graduate would come back to haunt them? Great going for the lad in a wonderful season yet; hopefully he does this against other stalwarts too.
