October Report
Hey there and welcome back to yet another issue of Manchester United Monthly! This issue we will be evaluating our performances in October, and after a great September where we won all our games, we finally look to have regained our form. This month sees us play some of the more ‘relegation threatened’ teams which means on paper, it should be an easy month, but football is never really that simple is it? Let’s look how The Red Devils performed this month!
Games: Hull City(A), Leicester(H), Crystal Palace(H), QPR(H).
Game 1: Hull City vs Manchester United
United’s first game of this month saw them travel to The KC Stadium to face Steve Bruce’s Hull City. After United’s great form last month, you would fully expect them to dominate the proceedings against Hull, as The Tigers are in and around the middle of the table struggling to pick up points. van Persie returned to the starting line-up in place of Falcao, hoping to continue his fine goalscoring form. It set-up to be a very interesting game.
Hull City kicked off with a short passing exchange between Huddlestone and Livermore being the main highlight of the opening 5 minutes. The former Tottenham midfielders were able to create an opening for Sagbo down the right however Alex Sandro was able to cover that area as he gained possession from Huddlestone's pass and played it back out to the 5 man midfield that Louis van Gaal decided to play today.
But it was Hull who got the opening goal, as Fellaini brought down Ben Arfa 22 yards from goal.
Huddlestone took the responsibility to take the free-kick and he had luck on his side after his shot was deflected by Valencia in the Manchester United wall and his touch wrong-footed David de Gea in-between the sticks for Manchester United giving Hull the surprise lead. Louis van Gaal looked very frustrated, changing his formation to a 4-1-2-1-2.
And that change of formation paid off as right from kick-off, Manchester United went on the attack as the skipper Wayne Rooney was in enough space to pick out the run of Angel Di Maria, and the Argentine put on a stunning show as he turned past his man and headed into the box before doing a heel-chop to allow him enough space to hit a shot at McGregor's near post which the keeper couldn't parry away and
Di Maria levelled the score to 1-1.
Di Maria's brilliance allowed him enough space in the box to crack a shot at McGregor's near post which sneaked it's way in.
And that goal was the catalyst for Manchester United as now they were filled with confidence, and just 10 minutes later from Di Maria's goal, United registered their second as
van Persie combined well with his strike partner Rooney and the Dutchman was given enough time outside the box to measure up his angles as he powered a shot past McGregor and into the back of the net to put United in-front for the first time in the game.
Hull were collapsing here as just a few minutes later, they found themselves picking the ball out of their net again as
Di Maria got his second of the game. The pacey winger was too fast for Michael Dawson to pick up as he surged past the former Tottenham player before dinking the ball over the out-stretched arms of McGregor to put United 3-1 up and looked to have almost sealed this game just 25 minutes in.
United finished the game with style as substitute
Juan Mata got the fourth and final goal as he was brought down 25 yards from goal. The attacking midfielder stepped up the take the free-kick and curled the ball up and over the wall, beating McGregor at his far post to make it 4-1 to United for a perfect winning start to the month. A very impressive performance from the whole team, but Di Maria was exceptional.
Game 2: Manchester United vs Leicester City
Our next game of the month saw Leicester City travel to Old Trafford for the first time this season, and looking at both teams forms, United were expected to win this game by at least two to three goals as Leicester have struggled to defend, conceding twice as many goals as United so far this season. van Gaal named a very strong team looking to increase United's goal difference where as Leicester were unchanged.
United got the first goal of the game with
Angel Di Maria continuing his fine run of form. The Argentine linked up nicely with Falcao, as they exchanged a series of accurate and fast passes before Falcao played a perfect through-ball towards the feet of Di Maria, who performed a fantastic turn past two Leicester defenders before placing the ball past Schmeichel and into the back of the net.
However United were not in the lead for long as Leicester equalised 10 minutes later. Drinkwater was the creator of this goal as he found some space just outside the box and drilled a low cross towards David De Gea's far post. Both Jones and Smalling failed to make any kind of connection on the ball which allowed
Linnes to poke the ball home from 7 yards to give Leicester a well deserved goal.
But Leicester weren't in the lead for long as
Di Maria registered his second goal 7 minutes later. The winger used his pace effectively as he surged past three Leicester players before combining well with Falcao again, with the Colombian repeating the same strategy as last time by producing a wonderful through-ball which Di Maria rounded the keeper with to put United 2-1 up.
Di Maria then got his first half hat-trick which he fully deserved. Again, he used his blistering pace and found some space to thread the ball into Mata, who turned past his man and ran at the Leicester defence, Mata then carefully found Valencia on the right and the winger drilled a low cross into the feet of Di Maria, whose touch found him half a yard to dispatch the ball past Schmeichel and get his first half hat-trick, A sublime display by the record signing.
Di Maria scored a first half hat-trick with a wonderful finish at the goalkeepers near post.
United weren't finished there, with another attacking seeing the ball in the back of the Leicester goal. This time it came from an unlikely source, the Brazilian right back
Rafael. The full-back bombed up the pitch and was part of a neat passing exchange between Mata, Valencia and Herrera who played a smart ball through a couple of Leicester players which Rafael ran onto before powering a low shot across Schmeichel and into the bottom corner. Another well worked goal by United's creative midfielders.
Falcao then got on the score sheet, heading in from 12 yards after some good work down the left by Daley Blind, who was filling in for the injured Luke Shaw and the tired Alex Sandro. Blind's cross had hints of his assist for Robin van Persie in the World Cup as he drifted a deep cross towards Falcao who is so prolific in the air that was easily diverted the ball past Schmeichel and into the back of the net. Leicester were dying without a trace here with at least half and hour still to play.
United continued to rub salt in the wounds of Leicester as
Valencia got a quick fire double within the space of 5 minutes. The Ecuadorian found himself one-on-one with Schmeichel for his first goal after the ball somehow evaded De Laet which allowed Valencia to power a shot past the keeper and into the back of the net.
Valencia then got his second after Schmeichel parried a strong shot from Falcao away towards the feet of Valencia who had the simple task of placing the ball in an open net. A superb performance by United which was by far their best so far this season.
Game 3: Manchester United vs Crystal Palace
After the thrashing of Leicester at Old Trafford, United were set to continue their goal scoring form as Crystal Palace came to the red side of Manchester to try and get something out of what was going to be a very tricky fixture. Louis van Gaal named the same starting eleven which impressed against Leicester, with Falcao once again leading the line after the Colombian produced a remarkable performance against Leicester. Palace looked to be more defensive, with two defensive midfielders starting this game.
It took just five minutes for the first goal to be registered, and to no surprise it was Manchester United who got that goal. Mata was very influential in this goal as his vision to pick out the run of
Falcao allowed the Colombian to have a free run at goal, taking his chance perfectly as he rounded the sprawling Speroni and calmly placed the ball into the back of the net. A great start for both Manchester United and Radamel Falcao.
And
Falcao's day got even better as he got his brace fifteen minutes later. Di Maria was picked out on the left by Herrera and the Argentine did what he does best as he ran towards the retreating Palace defence. Again Falcao was found perfectly with a crisp pass from Di Maria who fooled the defenders thinking that he was going to play the ball to his left, but instead played it to the right to find Falcao and yet again he had the composure to tuck the ball under Speroni and into the back of the net. A superb performance by Falcao so far in the game.
Palace started to sink as the game was all Manchester United, with some sublime attacking play allowing
Di Maria to collect the ball from outside the box and turn past his man, knocking the ball forward to Valencia who has featured a lot for van Gaal so far this season. The experience winger hit a low first time cross into the middle of the box where Di Maria made a smart run and he simply lifted the ball over Speroni to put even more misery into the Palace players as now United led 3-0.
Valencia got the fourth goal which he fully deserved just before half-time. The winger was the first player to react to Falcao's header being parried back into the danger zone by Speroni and he had the simple task of knocking the ball into the back of the net despite Speroni's desperate efforts of trying to divert the ball to safety but Valencia's shot was too powerful for Speroni to get any strength in his fingertips to push the ball away.
Valencia got his first goal of the game with an accurate finish from 7 yards out.
Valencia got his second of the game half-way through the second half as he won a corner which Mata took, swinging in a powerful cross which Valencia was the first to meet, flicking it with his upper leg which fortunately found itself in the back of Speroni's goal as the keeper could not see the ball due to amount of players around him. A scrappy but deserved goal nethertheless as United were now 5-0 up with at least thirty minutes to play.
Palace were able to pull a goal back ten minutes before the end, as their skipper
Mile Jedinak dispatched a magnificent free-kick around the wall which De Gea did his best to divert away but the strike was so accurately placed into the bottom left corner that the Spaniard was unable to keep the ball out of the net which gave Palace some hope that they could possibly mount a come-back within the final few minutes of the game.
And somehow they scored again, this time in the final kick of the game. United were quite poor in midfield for the first time in the game as Fellaini lost possession which allowed Palace to counter attack, with Gayle finding the run of
Chamakh who took a lovely first touch and struck a fierce strike past the out-stretch arm of De Gea to make it 5-2, however the referee then blew for full-time with Manchester United winning their third game in all three matches so far this month.
Game 4: Manchester United vs QPR
United's final game of the month was a Capital One Cup tie against fellow Premier League members QPR, who are applying their trade well in the league by being in 13th place. United made a few changes to the back line but overall named a strong starting eleven with many first team regulars being handed a start ahead of those who are rotational players. Adnan Januzaj was handed a rare start however in place of Di Maria. QPR named the same team which performed well in their previous Premier League game.
Surprisingly QPR were the ones to strike first blood, as just six minutes into the game, Junior
Hoilett won his side a free-kick 25 yards from goal. The Canadian stepped up to take it and swung in a pearler of a cross which somehow diverted past every player and struck the inside of the post which De Gea was unable to reach allowing the ball to bounce over the line to give QPR a shock lead, which in some cases was a very lucky goal.
But Manchester United reacted in the perfect way to going behind, by levelling the game up a few minutes later.
Valencia, who had a quality game against Crystal Palace, combined well with Danilo on the right side, with a short exchange of passes allowing the experienced winger to get in behind the QPR full-backs and power a low shot past Rob Green at his near post to level the up at 1-1. A nicely worked goal by United's wide players which fully deserved the end product.
And just a few minutes later, United were in-front for the first time in the match. Rooney was hacked down 30 yards from goal which earned United a free-kick that they were surely going to test Rob Green from.
Mata demanded to take the free-kick which Rooney finally accepted and the attacking midfielder showed what he can do from his range as he whipped the ball up and over the wall and past Green to put United 2-1 up. A sublime free-kick from Mata which earned applause from both sets of fans.
Mata scored a world-class free-kick 30 yards from goal proving why he is the best free-kick taker in the team.
Mata then got his brace in the second half as he combined well with Rooney, who held up the ball nicely for Mata to make an advance closer to goal. The United and England skipper then slid the ball through towards Mata who hit the ball first time on the half-volley which flew past Green and smashed the back of the net. Another great goal by Mata who has been a very important player for van Gaal so far this season.
United got a fourth goal which the young Belgian Adnan Januzaj scored, and what a goal it was.
Januzaj was found by Carrick and the Belgian international played the ball forward towards Mata on the left hand side of the pitch. Mata then scooped the ball back to Januzaj who brought the ball down beautifully with a sublime first touch, went round his man and slid the ball past Green and into the bottom corner. Januzaj earnt a standing ovation for his remarkable solo goal.
The referee blew for full-time meaning that Manchester United had made it to the Capital One Cup quarter final where they will be facing league rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford, which has apparently sold out of tickets already due to the rivalry and history between both clubs making the game even more special. A fantastic way to end the month for United too, winning all of the games they played making them the most inform team in England so far.
League Table
After this terrific month, we see ourselves at the top of the Barclays Premier League table for the first time this season, a massive turn-around after looking at our first month. Our goal-scoring form has played a big factor this month, with a +19 goal difference which is the highest in the league so far. Hopefully we’ll be able to maintain our position until the end of the season!
Player of the Month
Angel Di Maria
What is there to say about Di Maria? He’s just too good. Another amazing month of form from the Argentine which played a huge factor in our success. He scored lots of goals and got his fair share of assists, making him a vital player all around. His hat-trick against Leicester was by far his best display, and hopefully he can continue this form throughout the rest of the season.
