With Christmas and the Boxing Day approaching, it is clear the year 2022 is close to its end. That is why today we are taking a look at five of the best matches from Manchester United in the past 12 months.
Manchester United 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
First up, we go back to March 2022, when Manchester United got their first home win against Tottenham Hotspur this year. It was not a perfect team performance from Ralf Rangnick’s side, but this match ultimately proved to be the last amazing performance from Cristiano Ronaldo at the highest level. Man United won 3-2 thanks Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick. He was giving United the lead on three occasions, with assists from Fred, Jadon Sancho and Alex Telles. Harry Kane and Harry Maguire (via own-goal) tried to stop United, but Ronaldo’s heroics came out on top.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool
There is no doubt that this match was the most impressive and maybe even the most important win of 2022. Man United defeated biggest rivals Liverpool 2-1. A win against Champions League finalists came through Jadon Sancho’s and Marcus Rashford’s goals, while Mohamed Salah only managed to pull one goal back. This match in August announced Liverpool’s season will be a much tougher one than previous ones, but United did a fantastic job throughout, showing first glimpses of what Erik Ten Hag is trying to achieve at Old Trafford.
Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal
Arsenal opened the season in a perfect fashion and things were looking amazing for Mikel Arteta’s side until their match at Old Trafford. Sure, Arsenal are still doing brilliant job, being top of the league at Christmas time, but this was a really strong showing from the Red Devils. Antony scored the opener, before Rasfhord’s brace negated Bukayo Saka’s equaliser. United were compact without Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, while being dangerous from both flanks. This match was another one of those wins against Big Six clubs this season.
Manchester United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Apart from Liverpool and Arsenal, United had another such win this season. This was against Tottenham Hotspur in what could be the most complete performance from Ten Hag’s side so far this season. The Dutchman’s side dominated Spurs throughout, negating anything Antonio Conte tried to achieve. Fred scored the first goal of the match just after half-time, while Bruno Fernandes confirmed the three points some 20 minutes later. This match came to be famous about Cristiano Ronaldo’s antics of leaving the pitch before the end of the match. But this game was a way of showing Ronaldo’s time is slipping, with a new side being able to dominate top Premier League sides without him.
Leeds United 2-4 Manchester United
And finally, there was this 4-2 win from United at Elland Road. While this clearly was not the best performance overall, it was one of those exciting encounters where United in fact played well for the most part of the match. Goals from Harry Maguire and Bruno in the first half gave the visitors a big lead, but it was just a couple of horrific minutes which pulled Leeds back into this one. Rodrigo and Raphinha scored goals in less than two minutes to make it 2-2, but thanks to Fred and Anthony Elanga, the game ended in United’s favour.
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