October Report
Heading into the month of Halloween, Louis van Gaal's reds were sat top of the league with 16 points, with rivals Manchester City just behind them with 15 points. The month ahead will see United face the challenge of
QPR, West Ham and
Sunderland in the league, with a Capital One Cup tie with
Stoke also to play. You would expect a winning month from The Red Devils.
QPR vs Man United
With QPR returning back into the Premier League under the guidance of former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, QPR looked much better than they were two seasons ago, but United were too strong for the R's to get anything out of the game. van Gaal's men dominated the opening 20 minutes and took the lead as
Juan Mata found himself through on goal after Steven Caulker made a huge mistake and the Spanish international calmly slotted the ball past Rob Green and into the back of the net. The tempo of the game was dictated by United for the remainder of the first half. The only other goal of the game came early in the second half as Mata whipped in a delightful corner which
Jonny Evans made full contact with and the ball sailed past Green to make it 2-0 and give United all three points heading back to Manchester.
Man United vs West Ham
After returning from London, United faced the challenge of West Ham who have really changed their squad since last season. The game was evenly contested as West Ham played very deep and made it hard for the attacking trio of Mata, Rooney and Welbeck to break through the back lines. Rooney came close as his free-kick smashed off the crossbar as the teams headed into half time with the scores level at 0-0. Again, West Ham kept the same strategy and it took until the 80th minute for United to get the goal they were craving as Pogba was fouled 30 yards from goal giving United a free-kick in a very good position for the left foot of Juan Mata. The Spaniard swung in the ball and
Jonny Evans got his second goal in two games as he headed past Adrian. However, the game took a turn for a worse as both Mata and Shaw were both taken down in a collision with 3 West Ham defenders leaving United with only 9 players for the remainder of the game.
Man United vs Sunderland
In the final league game of the month, Sunderland travelled to The Theatre of Dreams but the class of Wayne Rooney was too much for Gus Poyet's side to handle. They were immediately on the back foot after just 30 seconds as
Rooney was automatically played through on goal by Mata and the forward rounded Ustari and passed the ball into the bottom corner of the goal. Rooney's goal gave United the drive needed to take control of games so early on, giving Sunderland little to no possession on the ball which led to needless fouls from Poyet's experienced side.
Rooney got his second just ten minutes later after punishing Ben Watson's mistake as the former Wigan midfielder lost possession allowing Rooney to run at the defence which he easily bypassed and struck the ball with so much power that Ustari jut couldn't get enough on the ball to save it giving Rooney his brace just 20 minutes in. United had many more chances both in the remainder of the first half and the second half but they failed to take them for the game to finish at 2-0.
Stoke vs Man United
United's final game of the month saw them travel to Stoke in horrendous conditions for the Capital One Cup 4th Round. It was a horrible game with little to no chances throughout both the first and second half. The only main talking point in the first half was when Wayne Rooney was taken down in the box which should have been a penalty, but the referee Mike Dean didn't point to the penalty spot. United had the biggest chance of the game which saw
Mata's heavily deflected shot by
Brek Shea fool Begovic and roll into the back of the net. A very boring 4th round which saw United and Louis van Gaal head into the next round to keep the cup dream alive.
League Table
At the end of October, United are top of the league with
25 points, 4 ahead of rivals Manchester City. van Gaal's men are still
undefeated, which earnt the Dutch manager a special honour which you will see below. Although the league has only really just begun, United are looking like
strong contenders for regaining the title at the end of the season.
Manager of the Month
In his third full month a the club,
Louis van Gaal was given the Manager of the Month award for October after his team's impressive winning streak this month. The Dutch manager narrowly beat Manuel Pellegrini to the award which both the players and fans of Manchester United are overjoyed that the new boss has been rewarded for his great start at the club. The boss said the following about receiving this honour:
"I am of course very happy to have been given this award but you should be congratulating my team as they were the ones who earnt this. I am pleased with the progress not just over this month, but the previous two and I hope that we can continue our good form for the remainder of the season."