Manchester United shockingly lost to Bristol City, as the Championship side scored the winner deep into the stoppage time to end the reign of Jose Mourinho’s team in the League Cup.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the only goal for the Devils in his first start after coming back from injury. Still, Joe Bryan and Korey Smith were the ones that made Manchester United pay for their poor performance.
Bristol City Deserved To Win
Bristol City thoroughly deserved to find themselves in the semifinals of the League Cup. That tells a lot. The hosts were fighting from start to end, trying to make an upset. And they did an amazing job.
They were aggressive, making some Man United players struggle. Bristol scored a great goal through Bryan and their overall attacking display was magnificent.
Jose Mourinho Knows Exactly Who Disappointed Him
After the match, Mourinho did not exactly want to give full credit to Bristol City. He was unhappy with performances of some players, making sure his voice was heard in the press conference.
“It was like another day in the office and for some of our players, they probably did not even want to come into the office today”, the manager said. He also claimed Bristol were lucky, but also said “this is a good day for football” afterwards.
“The reality is that the players that were on the pitch were the ones that were not in the last match against West Bromwich Albion and are the ones that are not going to be in the next match”, Mourinho pointed out.
Matteo Darmian Is Not Good Enough
This was not a good performance from the Italian. Some might even say he was horrible, but the truth is he definitely did not enjoy this game. Darmian did not contribute well enough, struggling against Bryan and Bristol City left-back Hordur Magnusson.
Darmian completed just 76 percent of his passes, made three clearances and won just three out of eight duels. These numbers confirm he had bad day, but he was not the only one. The Italian cannot be blamed on its own, as the performance of the whole team was not good enough.
Anthony Martial tried occasionally to create something for others, but in general lacked making any big difference. He did not record a single shot on goal either.
Two Games Less For Manchester United
The loss to Bristol City is definitely not good news, but there is always a need to find positives at times like these. And there is one this time, as well. Manchester United might not be playing in the League Cup semifinals, but they will not play two more matches.
Both legs of semifinals are set to be played in January and the Reds will enjoy a less hectic period. Eric Bailly and Marouane Fellaini are still out due to injuries and the squad in general is not too great.
Not going through too much troubles in January could see a fresher Man United side when February arrives and the Champions League football kicks in. That is what matters the most, anyway.
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