Manchester United are getting ready for another round of festive matches following Christmas, as the Red Devils are about to play their first Premier League match since 13 November. They will not play on Boxing Day per se, considering they will play their match against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, not Monday. But still, it is the Boxing Day round of matches nevertheless.
Historically, United have won the most points and had the best results on Boxing Day. So let’s have a look how things looked in the past several years for United on Boxing Day.
2021 – Newcastle United 1-1 Manchester United
Last year, United drew 1-1 against Newcastle away from home, thanks to an Edinson Cavani equaliser in the second half. It was Saint-Maximin who scored the early opener for Eddie Howe’s side. This was one of those matches early into Ralf Rangnick’s post, when the German was still trying to play his team in a 4-2-2-2 system, which meant Bruno Fernandes playing on the left wing and Cristiano Ronaldo up front with Mason Greenwood.
2020 – Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United
United are without a win on Boxing Day when playing away from home for a while now. They also drew at Leicester two years ago, when Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes gave the Devils two separate leads. But it was Harvey Barnes first and then Axel Tuanzebe with an own-goal who negated their leads to set the match as a draw.
2019 – Manchester United 4-1 Newcastle United
Man United’s last Boxing Day victory came under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, when United destroyed Newcastle after trailing 1-0. Following Matt Longstaff’s goal, Martial, Greenwood, Rashford and then Martial again all scored to make this a comfortable win for United.
2018 – Manchester United 3-1 Huddersfield Town
In 2018, it was the central midfeilders who shined for United. Huddersfield Town ended that season bottom of the league and they are still to return to the Premier League. On Boxing Day they had to bow to Manchester United’s central midfield duo, as Nemanja Matic scored the opener, before Paul Pogba added a brace of his own.
2017 – Manchester United 2-2 Burnley
The last Boxing Day under Jose Mourinho was a poor showing against Burnley, when United were losing 2-0 at half-time, thanks to goals from Ashley Barnes and Steven Deffour. A second-half brace from Jesse Lingard rescued the point for Mourinho’s side.
2016 – Manchester United 3-1 Sunderland
A pretty straightforward win against a side that ended up easily relegated in 2017. Daley Blind scored the opening goal for United, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan followed with two late goals to confirm the victory. Fabio Borini made sure his team got a consolation goal during the stoppage time, but was never going to stop Man United.
2015 – Stoke 2-0 Manchester United
This was a match Man United fans certainly did not forget. Going to Stoke was still a tough match ahead back then. Bojan Krkic and Marko Arnautovic scored two early goals in an early kick-off match. Another away Boxing Day match United did not win.
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