Such is the lay of the land, United had to contend with a monster schedule put on them by the Premier League after the fan protests postponed the Liverpool game, being played in two days. It meant all changes and some players that you thought had been cast to the wasteland made their first Premier League starts in a long time. Luke Thomas opened the scoring with a great strike but it was cancelled out soon after by Greenwood getting his sixth in six. The winner would come from an Albrighton corner that Soyuncu thundered into the net into with his head. The result held and it means the title race has finally ended, even if the chase was over long ago.

Play for your places

Because of the tightened schedule, Solskjaer had to decided whether to rotate tonight or on Thursday. Given the latter was going to be against Liverpool, it was always going to be an easy decision. The fact that a win for Leicester would essentially put the Merseyside team out of Champions League places for good probably made it a bit easier for Norwegian still.

However, it presented a good opportunity to play the fringe players that have played less than expected given the COVID effected season had made rest between games shorter than ever before. Ole has managed to keep the majority of the main players fit so there has been little deputising in that regard. I digress. 10 changes from the weekend saw a first ever start for Anthony Elanga and Amad Diallo in the wide berths, while the back ups in every position came in. The latter christened his with an assist for the other starboy, Greenwood. T

uanzebe had an extremely mixed bag where he withstood a lot of the pressure that Leicester mounted as they got on top in the second half but it was undercut by niggling mistakes, a mix of his rustiness and his composure spilling over into complacency. Matic prowled the middle of the park effectively in the first half but waned in the second as fitness caught up with him. Van de Beek failed to make an impression again, this time in a deeper role. It became an even contest in the first half and the early embers of the second after the early flurry of Luke Thomas’ stunner and Greenwood’s quick reply but you saw that these lads hardly had minutes in their legs as they sagged back. The substitutions even done more harm than good as Rashford lost his man as he came into the fray, the man being the towering Soyuncu.

Other Thoughts

Amad showed some bright touches in the first start for the club but what was quite surprising was his willingness and ability to withstand heavy pressure when he wanted to protect the ball. It has been understood that his slow integration in the first team was because of his physical capability but it looks like he may be able to stand up against it better than we thought

Williams has fallen so far from grace, where it was thought he had pushed Luke Shaw out of the team to being looked at as third choice right back, behind Tuanzebe, who is a CB. He is playing on his stronger side but all the admirably aggression and intensity has disappeared from his game. His confidence will obviously have been knocked and it is a wonder what happens with his career at Old Trafford