Manchester United dragged themselves to a sloppy victory as they overcame a feisty Zorya side to win 1 – 0 in a dull Europa League fixture.
The match started brilliantly for Manchester United as they looked to pile on early pressure on their minnow opponents.
Chances fell to almosy all the 10 outfield players, with Paul Pogba at the heart of the midfield creating chances for the United front line.
Rashford looked lively up the field in the absence of Wayne Rooney and Jesse Lingaard was also handed another start. Rashford, Zlatan and Lingaard were reveling in the attack with Pogba pulling the strings for Manchester United from the midfield.
Rashford almost handed United a priceless lead as he raced to a loose ball and his fierce shot hit the under side of the bar and bounced clear.
As the game went by, Zlatan and Mata looked further wasteful and United were lacking the finishing touch to take control of the game.
Fellaini had a fantastic chance to put Manchester Unite ahead but he hit his header too low and too hard as it bounced away, agonizingly close to the goal line.
Fellaini looked more and more peripheral as the game went by, with United struggling to make do with Pogba being played yet again out of position.
Manchester United looked in dire need of a quality midfielder, with the audience wanting to see either Michael Carrick or Ander Herrera in the midfield with Pogba.
And finally, when Wayne Rooney was introduced, United finally hoped that things would get better for them.
And yes, they did.
Fosu-Mensah exchanged passes with Wayne Rooney and Rooney fluffed his shot from close range and it ultimately fell to Zlatan, who made no mistake in scoring and putting United ahead by a goal.
There’s wasn’t much to report in the closing stages of the game except a couple of half chances which were missed by Man United. They hoped to cling on to their lead and close the game, which they did.
The result was there. The flair wasn’t. Another day of survival for Manchester United with a fair result.
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