That was a hospital pass to De Gea but he miscontrolled the ball and then didn’t realise until late on an opponent was breathing down his neck, so played it into touch. If the dedicated correspondents were permitted more than one question yesterday (inexplicably, they weren’t), De Gea’s future would have likely been raised, given his contract situation.
Ronaldo and Fernandes have swapped positions a couple of times in United’s build-up play already, with the striker dropping towards midfield to try and get on the ball and Fernandes making a run beyond him. United are seeing an awful lot of the ball in the first five minutes but space is at a premium.
Its such a tight pitch that, watching the TV images, it could be mistaken for Loftus Road. The pitch also seems quite hard and dry, so it’s a classic case of a western European side taking time to adjust to their new surroundings. United certainly have not got going against their committed opponents.
At times like that, Eriksen is always the man United would want on the ball but he is being shadowed carefully in these early stages. Ronaldo has been sloppy with the ball a couple of times already.
Sancho fashions an opening in the box and scores with his left-foot, with the ball tucked into the bottom right corner. He had hardly been in the game until that moment – he won’t mind now.
Ronaldo was clearly looking for that penalty. It was a brilliant ball from Martinez but Ronaldo took too long to get in under control and allowed Kiki to get back at him, blocking the angle for the shot. There’s already been a couple of instances where that half a yard of pace he’s lost has cost Ronaldo opportunities in front of goal.
CRISTIANO RONALDO SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON SIUUUUU pic.twitter.com/pwPgqRTUWq
— RonaldoFan7 (@ManUtdRonaldo7) September 15, 2022