Manchester United drew 0-0 with Valencia in the Champions League on Tuesday, Oct. 2. Here are all the highlights from the match.
Manchester United’s winless run continued on Tuesday, as they settled for a disappointing 0-0 draw with Valencia in the Champions League. Jose Mourinho has continued to make headlines since Saturday’s 3-1 loss to West Ham, and struck an antagonistic note in his program notes ahead of the game.
If he was trying to spark a reaction from his players, he didn’t get it. United weren’t bad, but they certainly weren’t good either. Marcus Rashford, Alexis Sanchez and Rashford started in a front three, but Rashford was the only one who looked consistently dangerous. Lukaku was starved of service, while Sanchez continues to struggle for form.
Valencia, meanwhile, played some excellent stuff, but it fell apart as they entered the final third. Goncalo Guedes was particularly busy down the left wing — though it would have been hard not to be given the amount of space Antonio Valencia gave — but wasted good position on numerous occasions.
The result was a low quality, disjointed game between two sides with plenty of talented players, but not nearly enough cohesion in the final third. Valencia have struggled for goals in La Liga all season, and it wasn’t hard to see why given their sloppiness around the penalty area. Rodrigo Moreno had plenty of nice touches, but they were all too far from goal.
For United, the biggest problem was probably in midfield. Paul Pogba showed flashes of his quality, but, not for the first time this season, he received very little help from Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic in terms of advancing the ball up the pitch. It was hard not to wonder why summer signing Fred didn’t get the nod.
Highlights
United face Juventus in their next Champions League outing, while Valencia play group minnows Young Boys.