In the 33rd round of the 2021-22 Premier League season, Manchester United took on Deputy Squad Leader Norwich at the Dream Theatre. United have been in poor form lately, having lost three of their five games in all competitions since March. Among them, the league has won 4 games, 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses, which is already as many as 6 points behind the 4th place Inttenham Hotspur in the league, and the hope of fighting for 4 is very slim. Therefore, in this round of home battles, Manchester United can only win to calm the continuous doubts from the outside world.
For this game, Lonnick made several changes to the squad. With Fred and Scott McTominay unable to play, Jesse Lingard was given a rare starting opportunity to form a three-midfielder with Pogba and B Fee. Frontcourt Trident C Ronaldo is centered, with Sancho and Elanga on either side.
After the opening, Manchester United played very proactively with the home momentum, whether it was in the defensive or offensive to defensive, all implemented the word "fast". And Norwich also made a quick time, and the two teams played widely. In addition, Manchester United's high pressing force in this game is very large, and the first goal comes from the positive pressing in the front.
In the 6th minute, Erlanga pressed the opposing centre-back Gibson on the right side of the field, who wanted to pass Ellanga and was accidentally cut off. Erlanga then crossed Ronaldo in the middle of the penalty area, who easily made it possible for United to take a 1-0 lead. After taking the lead, United continued to implement the established strategy, playing a fast-paced attack and high-intensity pressing.
But there are pros and cons to this style of play, Manchester United has repeatedly pressed back by Norwich, if it were not for the average ability of the opposing forward players to handle the ball, coupled with De Gea's bravery, Manchester United would have conceded the ball. In addition, Manchester United blindly pursues fast, and there have been many unnecessary mistakes in the passing and receiving of the ball, which has wasted opportunities. Seeing this situation, C Luo also had to press down with both hands many times to remind his teammates to slow down.
In the 32nd minute, Ronaldo stood up again. Tres opened a corner, Cristiano Ronaldo's clever running position threw off the defender's head hammer to attack the goal, the goalkeeper did not react, the ball drilled into the net, Manchester United led 2-0!
At this stage of the game, if the score of 2-0 can be maintained to end the first half, Manchester United will play more calmly in the second half. But in the final moments of the first half, United's old mistakes were made again, and the defensive line always fell ill suddenly. In the 46th minute, Norwich played a combination on the left side of the field, McLean crossed to the back post, United were unguarded, and Doyle easily headed the ball back. Norwich continued to make threats but failed to break the goal, with referees blowing the whistle at the end of the half and United taking a temporary 2-1 lead.
At the beginning of the second half, Manchester United continued to press high in the front, once forming a siege on Norwich's goal, but after a long time, they could not attack the Manchester United defense and lost it again. In the 51st minute, Norwich kicked out a counterattack again, and after Puki's successful anti-offside, he scored in the face of De Gea's attack to calm the facility, VAR confirmed that the goal was valid, and the score came to 2-2! Manchester United's speed did not hurt the opponent but was successively beaten by the opponent, and morale was inevitably damaged!
In the 55th minute, Norwich almost used the counterattack to score again, thanks to De Gea's courage to save the ball out of the bottom line; in the 60th minute, Tres opened a corner on the left side of the field, C Ronaldo jumped high in the crowd again to get the header, but unfortunately it was too high to be picked up by goalkeeper Krul; in this corner, Maguire hooked his foot to Pogba's head after the scramble for the ground, and the latter suddenly broke out in emotion; in the 61st minute, Ronnick replaced veteran Nemanja Matic to try to stabilize the situation, and Lingard was replaced.
Since then, although United have been eager to score goals, they have always been unable to create good chances to score goals, but they have been threatened by Norwich in front of the goal in the 69th and 70th minutes. In the 71st minute, Cristiano Ronaldo received a back-run to receive a teammate's ball over the top, but it slowed down slightly. In the 72nd minute, Lonnick replaced Pogba with Rashford and put his attacking power on the front line. When he was replaced, Pogba looked disappointed.
In the 75th minute, United won a free kick in the front of the penalty area, and Cristiano Ronaldo took the penalty. Standing in front of the ball, C Ronaldo's resolute eyes looked in the direction of the goal, took a deep breath, helped to run, got up on his feet, shot angrily, and the ball was like a cannonball out of the chest into the net! Hat-trick! Manchester United are leading again, who else!? C Luo single-handedly filled the sinkhole dug by the rear defense, which was too difficult!
Leading again, Norwich players could not hide their disappointment, while Manchester United once again ignited confidence and organized wave after wave of attacks to emerge into the Norwich penalty area. In the 81st minute, United's tactical corner kick on the left side of the field, B Fei combined with Sancho and then dribbled laterally near the box to pull out a fierce shot, which was saved by Krul.
Since then, the two sides have come and gone, but they can no longer rewrite the score. United had a series of twists and turns at the Theatre of Dreams, thrillingly beating relegation team Norwich to score a valuable 3 points. Throughout the game, United had 60% of the ball and created a total of 19 shots on target and 9 shots on target, while Norwich used the counter-attack to create 13 shots on goal and scored 2 goals on target, which was very efficient.
As Spurs were eliminated, United narrowed the gap between the two teams to 3 points, and the hope of fighting for 4 was greater again. Although this game was won today, the repeated mistakes made by the back line are still very heart-wrenching. After this round, Manchester United will face Liverpool and Arsenal away consecutively, and such defensive performances will be difficult to retreat from the road.