Manchester United 5-0 Club Brugge: Four Things We Learned

Manchester United are through to the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League and they did it in some style! Beating Club Brugge 5-0 on a beautiful European night at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side did what they were expected to do – and more – as they cruised past the leaders of the Belgian championship.

It all started pretty quickly, as United took the lead through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty, which came five minutes after Simon Dell’s red card. That, in fact, made it all the more easier, but then United started piling on their mysery, with two more goals before half-time, coming from Odion Ighalo and Scott McTominay.

Late into the match, Fred managed to score a brace and make this a five-star win indeed.

Bruno Fernandes Is Transforming Man United

There has been a lot of talk about Bruno Fernandes since he joined the club and for a good reason. He has been United’s best player in virtually every single match, even that one time he entered the pitch after 83 minutes. He is the player that has started transforming the way United are playing on the pitch. Transforming might be a too strong of a word in a usual sense, but the way the Devils have been playing recently has a lot to do with him being on the pitch.

Fernandes is pulling all the strings, he is scoring, he is shooting and he is creating for others and he is always asking for the ball, trying to be proactive.

Ighalo Breaks The Ice

Odion Ighalo spoke of his love for Manchester United when he joined the club and now he got the chance to score his first ever goal in the red shirt. He became the first Nigerian player to score for Man United (as he is also the only Nigerian to play for the club) and it was very nice to see him break the ice.

He might be just a short-term option, but hopefully he will be able to continue scoring and help the team reach the Champions League.

One Of The Best Halves Of Football In Recent Memory

Man United’s first half was one of their best 45 minutes of football in recent memory. Yes, Club Brugge had ten men on the pitch and that did not help their cause, but United were everywhere. There were attacks starting right from the off, there were waves of attacks going one after the other and that was great to see. United controlled the ball constantly, which was nice to see.

Good To Get Some Players Rested

One other thing that was very positive from this match is the fact that Solskjaer decided to rest some key players and that completely worked out. David De Gea, Nemanja Matic and Victor Lindelöf did not play and Solskjaer found a way to get a comfortable win, whilst also managing his squad. That was not always the case this season, with cases of Harry Maguire playing against Rochdale when that was not necessary, but maybe this is a sign that Solskjaer has learned a thing or two about managing the squad.

1 Comment on Manchester United 5-0 Club Brugge: Four Things We Learned

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*