In the 16th round of the Premier League, Manchester United visited the Caro Road Stadium against promoted Manovic, and in the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo made a penalty and personally scored, the Red Devils won 1-0, and the points were equalized with the fourth West Ham in the league in one more game. The Hammers are still holding the top four with seven goals difference, and they will be away to Burnley on Sunday, plus Spurs are only two points behind Manchester United in their two games.
Interim manager Ronnick used the same squad as he coached United in his first game, meaning the team's starting line-up has remained unchanged for three consecutive premier league games. De Gea defended the goal, With Dioggu Dalo, Lindelof, Maguire and Tres forming the defensive line, McTomine and Fred at the back, Sancho and Bruno Fernandez as the forwards, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Rashford joining the front.
"That's one of the reasons we changed all the starters when we played against the youngsters in the Champions League," Lonnick explained, "other reasons are looking at other players in official matches." At the same time, we can get the other 11 players ready for a week, and I don't think there's a reason to change anybody."
United have two goalkeepers in their bench, while Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Cavani and Wan Bissaka are not on the squad, Lonnick said: "Two of them are sick and Aaron (Wan Bisaka) has two injuries in the Champions League, so he can't play."
Norwich Brandon Williams, who is on loan from Manchester United, did not qualify for the game due to the avoidance clause, but the home team played aggressively after the opening, and Manchester United was completely defensive, and both Ronaldo and Fernandez had to return to their own penalty areas. In the 14th minute, Marcus Rashford took a free kick and Tellys took the penalty and bounced off the crossbar.
After Ronaldo's left-foot volley into the air, he knocked down Norwich captain Grant Hanley on a break with the ball, who fell to the ground with a shoulder injury and was replaced in the 20th minute. United adjusted the formation to the opponent's tactics, and the 4222 became closer to 4231, regaining the advantage on the field. After Dalo received Sancho's pass, he turned around inside the box and fired a left-footed shot that was too angled to be caught by the goalkeeper.
In the 37th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo received a direct thrust from McTomine, and the right rib buckled the left-footed arc of the ball, but also failed to break through Kruel's ten-finger mark. Just before half-time, Maguire's header was almost broken, And Krul flew back to the bottom line, and the two sides returned to the dressing room in a 0-0 draw.
Heavy rain fell after kick-off in the second half, Lonnick put on a red hat and De Gea pounced on his opponent's small-angle ejection. In the 57th minute, De Gea flew to the right and blocked Puki's turning blast to save the goal. Norwich won consecutive corner kicks, and United were in chaos in the penalty area, but fortunately there was no danger in the end. Marcus Rashford counter-attacked a low shot and the ball deflected off the left upright.
Lonnick replaced Sancho with Mason Greenwood, and then Lindlev suddenly felt unwell and returned directly to the dressing room after being questioned by the team doctor. In the 73rd minute, McTomine's cross from the right was dropped by Arrance inside the penalty area and the referee pointed straight to the 12 yards point. Crierto personally took the penalty and Krul continued to use psychological tactics, but the Portuguese superstar scored a powerful shot into the left side of the goal, and United, who played one less person, took a 1-0 lead.
It was Ronaldo's seventh Premier League goal of the season and Ronaldo's seventh goal in eight away games this season. Opta statistics show that Norwich is the 120th team in Ronaldo's club career to score goals, and he has faced a total of 160 teams, and the scoring efficiency is quite amazing.
After Bai finished warming up, he took lindelive's place. De Gea pounced again, and a "fishing moon" pounced on Kabak's header and rushed to the top! Norwich were full of momentum, Gilmour shot two consecutive goals, and Dalo and Bai were successful in blocking the eye-catching blocking.
Marcus Rashford counter-attacked the cross from the left, somewhat behind the line, and C Ronaldo's left foot was enough to kick the ball high, missing a good opportunity to open the scoring twice. Fernandez turned to his feet after receiving Fred's direct thrust, the ball was slightly offside, and he was soon replaced by Van de Beek.
In stoppage time, Norwich's free-kick created a threat, and Ronaldo's header crossed the line, but De Gea once again saved Kabak's head hammer to save Manchester United's 1-0 away win and take all three points. It was also de Gea's 200th career clean sheet, including 159 at Manchester United, 22 at Atletico and 19 in Spain.
United's victory over Norwich is quite positive, Norwich's last 10 games against Manchester United are 2 wins and 8 losses, including the last three consecutive defeats, the Canary has lost three times in the history of the Premier League against the Red Devils, and the loss of this game has allowed the team to suffer four consecutive defeats against the same opponent for the first time in the history of the team.
It was Norwich's 10th Premier League game of the season to be kept clean, with eight goals scored in 16 rounds setting a record low in team history. Of the teams that have scored so few goals in the past, only Sheffield United in 1990/91, Everton in 2005/06 and Crystal Palace in 2017/18 avoided relegation.
At the same time, Manchester United broke the embarrassing stats of the last four promotions against the Premier League that season, drawing 3 draws and losing 1 defeat, and it is difficult to seek a win. United's last five-game winless win over the new champions was between January 1992 and January 1993, and although it was only a small 1-0 win, Lonnick managed to avoid repeating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's defeat to promoted Marwaterford this season.
The Manchester United manager must thank two players, Ronaldo and De Gea, the Way the Red Devils won this season, that is, Ronaldo scored, de Gea saved the victory, and this is also the plot of this game. The Portuguese winger won and scored penalties in his own right, while De Gea secured a 1-0 lead with five saves from inside norwich's penalty area.
Before Lonnick took charge, the British media touted his high-level pressing offensive tactics, but after the German coach took office, he contributed two 1-0 pragmatism wins. This is actually not surprising, because the time is tight, Lonnick is not a god, can not be a short period of time to transform Manchester United. What he can do is to instill his tactical ideas as much as possible, as he does now, and make sure that the defense does not concede the ball, can win, take all three points, and maintain the momentum of the fight for four.
With the crazy schedule of 5 days and 3 games on Christmas approaching, Lonnick's Manchester United cannot overuse the high position in the front court, so it is wise for the new manager to first ensure that he does not concede the ball, and then wait for the opportunity to score and win. Those who hope that Lonnick will drastically change Manchester United are just the idealistic ideas of the fans, not to mention that the team's attack will be as smooth and beautiful as a butterfly.
Although Norwich are at the bottom of the rankings and concede the fewest goals, they have actually played well since Dean Smith took office, only losing to Tottenham. Coupled with the Canary's home game, it was predicted before the game that they would pose a greater threat to United than Crystal Palace in the previous round. When the London Eagles visited Old Trafford, they only aimed to keep the balance, while Norwich were more enterprising and not as weak as people thought.
Lonnick made the wrong choice in the same squad, but he at least ensured the right strategy, achieving three unbeaten games, including two consecutive Premier League wins and two clean sheets, to get off to a good start for his coaching. In the next 9 games, United's opponents still do not have the top three, and Lonnick needs to continue to improve himself and the Red Devils on the basis of ensuring a win.