Manchester United have finally won a match away from Old Trafford, as they beat Partizan 1-0 in Belgrade, with Anthony Martial’s goal from the spot in the 43rd minute of the Europa League encounter.
The Red Devils are now top of their Group L, as AZ Alkmaar scored half-dozen goals to beat Astana 6-0, to claim the second place. In a heated atmosphere in Belgrade, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side managed to get a win, but it was far from easy.
Important Away Win
Manchester United have won their first away match in 232 days, for the first time since that famous night in Paris against PSG on 6 March. It has been seven and a half months since and finally United did it. This was an important win to get top of the group, but also for the team to get a victory in a partisan crowd.
However, it was not a good performance overall, yet again. The Devils had one half-chance in the first half when Jesse Lingard hit the post and in the second they almost did not exist, as Partizan pushed further back chasing the equalizer.
Manchester United Lucky To Win
It should be noted that Man United were lucky to win this one. The penalty they got when Nemanja Miletic brought Brandon Williams down was not doubtful, but Partizan were left feeling angry when they did not get a penalty after 67 minutes. It was then that Miletic’s header hit Scott McTominay at his hand, but the Spanish referee did not show to the spot.
Also, Seydouba Soumah and Umar Sadiq also had some good chances, with the former making Harry Maguire remember him and the latter hitting the post just minutes before Martial’s goal.
Brandon Williams Enjoys Himself
Brandon Williams got another opportunity to show his talents and he duly delivered. Manchester United youngster made his second senior start, after impressing against AZ Alkmaar three weeks ago. This time, he caught the eye again, as he was given freedom to operate on the left flank on his own.
He was given permission to roam forwards and backwards and his energy is what got United the penalty in the final minutes of the first half. He went forward in a direct fashion of his, he entered the box, before getting brought down. Williams looked assured and that is definitely a good sign for his future.
Penalties, Penalties, Penalties
Manchester United really get A LOT of penalties. As we pointed out earlier, their penalty in Belgrade was not a problem, since Miletic made a defensive mistake, but one must wonder why are United getting so many penalties? Is this down to Devils being really dangerous in the box or their opponents get flustered and make unnecessary mistakes?
Whatever might be the case, the fact is that a team cannot rely on getting penalties all the time. United already got four penalties in Premier League, but the players are still not creating much from open play.
Against Partizan, excluding the penalty, there were just four shots in total, none of which went on target.
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