Manchester United 2-0 Huddersfield: Premier League highlights and recap

Manchester United beat Huddersfield 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday, Feb. 3. Here are all the highlights from the match.

When Jose Mourinho made the decision to bench Paul Pogba against Huddersfield — apparently, though Mourinho didn’t admit it, in reaction to his poor performance against Tottenham midweek — he must have been hoping his side would put in the sort of exciting, attacking display that makes people forget such high-profile personnel decisions.

United won, comfortably in the end, thanks to second-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, but the performance was full of reminders of how disjointed the Red Devils can still look, and in particular of how much they miss Pogba’s ability to connect defense and attack. An exciting, attacking display this was not.

The first half was a mess, scrappy, angry and, at times, violent. The main talking point from the came in the 19th minute, when Pogba’s replacement, Scott McTominay, was knocked to the floor when Terence Kongolo caught him in the head with his shoulder. It should have been a penalty, and arguably a red card, but nothing was given.

Other than that, the half was characterized by United’s lack of width, a problem exacerbated by Sanchez and Juan Mata’s tendency to come inside and seek the ball, a tendency which was itself exacerbated by the absence of Pogba, who is usually the player United look to to get their attackers involved.

Still, the home side dominated possession and conceded no chances of note. When they took the lead after a much improved spell of attacking to start the second half, it was well-deserved. Romelu Lukaku was the scorer, turning in Mata’s cross with a well-placed finish at Jonas Lossl’s near post.

United doubled their lead 10 minutes later, as Sanchez tucked in the rebound following his own missed penalty. It wasn’t his best goal, but a deserved reward for a characteristically busy performance. There are drawbacks to the Chilean’s insistence on having ball, but his quality usually makes up for them. Given time, he should excel at Old Trafford.

As for Huddersfield, this was their eighth league match without a win, and leaves them for the first time all season in the relegation zone. They will face easier challenges than an away match against Manchester United, but the downward trend of their season is disturbing and they showed little here to suggest they have the quality to turn things around.

Highlights

United stay in second place, 13 points behind league-leaders Manchester City. Huddersfield fell into the relegation zone after Southampton won and Swansea drew. They’re in 19th place with 12 matches remaining.