United settled for a draw at Bramall Lane


By Olumide Lawal

Manchester United left the Steel City with just a point after an entertaining 3-3 draw with Sheffield United in the Premier League.

It was the hosts that scored first at the third time of asking after some brilliant saves from David de Gea but the Spaniard was rightly beaten when his recent save deflected off  John Fleck on 19th minute. The Blades doubled their lead seven minutes into the restart as Lys Mousset fired from outside the box after Andreas Pereira lost possession in midfield.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men found their way back into the game with some quickfire goals from Brandon Williams, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford and went ahead for the first time in the game but they succumbed to a McBurnie strike at the death.

A draw seem like a fair result but it was a game either side could've won easily if only they knew how to defend.


 5 talking points from Sheffield United 3-3 Manchester United

1. Ole got it wrong from the start

OGS got his tactics all wrong from the beginning with the inclusion of Phil Jones and switching to 3-4-3. The Reds find it hard to string passes together in the first half and Jones was culpable for Sheffield's first goal. The visitors performed better when OGS changed to 4-2-3-1.

2. United miss McTominay and Matic

With Scott McTominay out due to injury, one would expect OGS to fill his place with the out of favour Nemanja Matic but the United manager went for Pereira to partner his compatriot, Fred, and the former had a game to forget.

3. Defence is still poor

Harry Maguire was acquired for a world record fee to help marshal United's defence but he's been unable to do that, so far. United are expected to concede at least a goal in every game and that's bad for a defence worth over £165m.

4. More strikers needed

Anthony Martial started as United's main striker and he was mostly anonymous in this game prior to being subbed off. January transfer window is almost here.

5. United find it hard to break teams down

If you want to get a result against this Manchester United, just defend in numbers and "pray" your forward are clinical in front of goal. OGS has entrusted Juan Mata, Pereira & Lingard as his no 10s in as many games and their combine stats don't make for good reading. Get James Maddison in!



Player Ratings

GK: David de Gea 6

He started some good saves at the start but conceded three goals.

RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka 6

He could've done better. Booked

CB: Victor Lindelof 6

 Didn't do enough.

CB: Harry Maguire 6

He needs to be quicker.

CB: Phil Jones 4

He literally "gifted" Sheffield United their opener. He was hooked off at halftime. Shocking performance.

LB: Brandon Williams 7

Encouraging performance from the youngster. Scored his first United goal with a sweet volley. Booked

MD: Andreas Pereira 5

He doesn't deserve to be a regular starter at Manchester United.

MD: Fred 6

He had a fair game.

FW: Daniel James 7

He was always involve in anything meaningful offensively.

FW: Marcus Rashford 7

He was largely quiet but scored what should've been a winner for United.

FW: Anthony Martial 5

He was largely anonymous.

SUBS

FW: Mason Greenwood 7

He scored United's second goal to start the comeback with his first shot on goal.

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