For the first 80 minutes Leeds had the better of this tight encounter, but in the end Manchester United showed their class and two late goals took the points to the wrong side of the Pennines.
Leeds began the game with the same eleven who finished the first half at Old Trafford four days before, as Sinisterra and Struijk had failed to recover from the injuries picked early up in that game. This meant another outing for Firpo, which was always going to cause us a bit of anxiety, but he was to treat us to one of his better games, and might be in danger of a run of games in the side.
Another thing that didn’t change was the way went about our business, starting the game playing at a high pace with Adams and McKennie snapping into tackles and everyone getting into their faces at every opportunity. It was no surprise that we were to create the first real chance of the game
After Wöber managed to reach a ball before it went out for a goal kick and hooked it along the byline, De Gea saved from Bamford but was out of position as the ball came through to Summerville. But a challenge from Malacia forced him to rush his shot, and he could only send it over the bar. After that the game got rather scrappy, until both sides carved out big chances as half time approached.
Wöber has been our most reliable defender since he joined us, but he made a howler as half time approached, sending an attempted clearance straight into the path of Fernandez. But Meslier stayed big as the Portuguese moaner raced into the area, not going to ground to give him the chance of an easy ‘dink’ over the top.
So Fernandez was forced to shoot and Meslier was able to save with his legs. There was another anxious moment when the resulting corner was headed just past the far post, with Rashford arriving just too late to get the touch he needed. At the other end Summerville was sent through, but after De Gea blocked his initial shot he was too slow to get a pass to Bamford as several defenders raced back to surround him.
If anything we stepped up the pace at the start of the second half, and almost looked like getting on top of them. De Gea had to get down to turn a low shot from Summerville round the post, Koch had a header blocked and Ayling had a shot deflected just wide. But the game began to turn around the hour mark, after both sides had made tactical changes.
Bamford was taken off and looked rather unhappy to be leaving the contest, but Skubala might have thought he would start to run out of puff at this stage of his journey back to full fitness. Rutter came on but struggled to have much of an impact on the game. He’s not the same type of player as Bamford, and while he could be effective alongside or behind a centre forward, his game is not well suited to being the main focal point of the attack.
Meanwhile Ten Hag opted to bring the ineffectual Weghorst back into a midfield role while Rashford went into the central role up front, while Garnacho replaced Sancho to run down their left. Eventually the higher quality of reinforcements available on their bench was to prove to be the difference between the two sides.
Ayling tried his luck with an overhead kick, which unfortunately went straight to De Gea, but Dalot created Man U’s first decent chance of the half with a fierce shot from outside the area hit the bar. By now the momentum had started to swing towards to visitors, though there was one more chance for Summerville as a careless backpass gave him the chance to shoot from a narrow angle, but De Gea was able to save with his legs.
Skubala tried to freshen things up by bringing on Aaronson for Harrison and then Greenwood for McKennie, but Man U were to break the deadlock with ten minutes remaining. Shaw crossed from the left, and Rashford was able to find plenty of space between Koch and Firpo, before accepting the opportunity to head the ball into the net.
Only then did our heads start to go down, with the second goal coming in the 85th. Summerville lost possession while trying to go forward on the halfway line, and when the ball was played down the left to Garnacho he was able to outpace Koch. Meslier managed to get a fingertip to his powerful shot, but could only turn it onto the inside of the post, and it rebounded into the opposite corner.
They were to get the ball in the last few minutes but thankfully both were disallowed for offside. Another goal or two really would have given them a flattering scoreline, but at the final whistle we had still gone down to another shattering defeat, from yet another game when we deserved to get at least a share of the points.
After the match Michael Skubala told LUTV that if we had taken our early chances we could have gone on to win, stressing the importance of getting the first goal in these tight games. He also said there were plenty of positives that the squad could take from this game, which might sound like he’d slipped into full Jesse Marsch mode, but he has a point.
He also said that he is enjoying his brief spell in charge of the first team and that he is glad to have helped the club out. But although he knows how to set a team up tactically, he is not looking to take the job on a permanent basis. But the way things are going in our search for a new head coach, could he be asked to stay on for the rest of the season, until Andoni Iraola is out of contract?
One way or another we are going to have to get that situation sorted quickly, and preferably before Saturday's crucial game at Goodison Park. At least Everton lost the Merseyside derby tonight, with Cody Gakpo finally doing us a favour six months after spurning the opportunity to join us. Hopefully the toffees have gone back to being rubbish, but we will need at least a point from that game.
One way or another we will have to start turning these performances into points.