Welcome to Man United, sir: Red Devils in great escape
Stirring comeback at Old Trafford in front of new billionaire part owner of club
Welcome to Manchester United, Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In the space of 90 minutes, and in front of soon-to-be director Dave Brailsford, Old Trafford yesterday witnessed the best and worst of Erik ten Hag’s team.
Two days after confirmation that British billionaire Ratcliffe will buy a stake of up to 25 per cent in the club, United trailed by two goals inside 26 minutes against Aston Villa and was booed by the home crowd. Ten Hag’s players then produced a spectacular second-half comeback to win 3-2 and spark celebrations rarely seen at their famed stadium.
“We said ‘Keep going. Believe it, in ourselves’. That is what I demand from the team,” ten Hag said afterwards. “We said it before the game and during halftime, ‘Keep believing and we will win this game’.”
Going into the game on the back of a run of four matches in all competitions without a win or a goal, United took to the field for the first time since Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest people, secured an agreement worth around US$1.6 billion to buy into the club he has supported from childhood.
Brailsford is the director of sport for Ineos Sport, which Ratcliffe owns, and yesterday it was confirmed he will be a director of United once the deal is completed.
He got a taste of the sense of frustration among the 20-time league champions’ fans — with United last winning the title in 2013 — and the animosity toward American owners the Glazer family, who put the club up for sale last year.
Ratcliffe will take charge of football operations as part of his investment and Brailsford is expected to play a big part in a new structure.
While it will take more than one win to turn a season around that has already seen United eliminated from the Champions League and the English League Cup, the atmosphere in the second half was a taste of what can be achieved by bringing the good times back to Old Trafford.
“We’re looking forward. I think it is positive for the club that they are stepping in. They have a lot of experience in sport at the highest level — F1, a cycling team, football clubs,” ten Hag said. “They can only help us and support us to get our targets. We are looking forward. They want to work with us and we want to work with them.”
Villa scored first-half goals from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker. Alejandro Garnacho sparked United’s revival with two goals in the second half and Rasmus Hojlund scored his first league goal to win the game.
“Two weeks ago I was asked if we were contenders to the title and said no, and was thinking the same as I am now,” third-placed Villa manager Unai Emery said. “Today we missed an opportunity to have that consistency against one of the top ten teams. This can happen.”
United moved up to sixth place, three points behind defending champions Manchester City in fifth. City have played two fewer games than United.
Liverpool are back at the top of the league and Darwin Nunez is again among the goals.
Nunez ended a 12-game scoring drought to set up Jurgen Klopp’s team for a 2-0 win against Burnley and overtake Arsenal in the standings.
Liverpool moved two points clear of second-place Arsenal, who have a game in hand against West Ham tomorrow.
Nunez curled a shot from distance beyond Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford in the sixth minute at Turf Moor.
Having drawn back-to-back league games against Manchester United and Arsenal, Liverpool failed to make the most of their dominance as they saw two goals disallowed and Mohamed Salah hit the bar.
Substitute Diogo Jota eventually ended any concerns of a Burnley equaliser with a goal in the 90th.
“We’ve created a lot of chances recently and haven’t used an awful lot of them but in the end it’s about performing,” Liverpool manager Klopp said. “We’ve played four games in 10 days and you just have to get through it.”
Back-to-back wins for Luton Town have boosted the relegation-fighting club’s chances of survival. But Rob Edwards’ team had Sheffield United to thank for the 3-2 win at Bramall Lane after the bottom-place team scored two own-goals in the space of four minutes.
Jack Robinson and Anis Ben Slimane found their own net in the 77th and 81st minutes to hand 18thplace Luton the win that moved them to within a point of Everton (17th).
Alfie Doughty had given Luton a first-half lead in the 17th.
Oliver McBurnie levelled in the 61st and Anel Ahmedhodzic put Sheffield United 2-1 up in the 69th minute. But the own-goals turned the game around.
After a tough start at Bournemouth, Andoni Iraola is on a roll with six wins in seven games. Goals from Justin Kluivert, Dominic Solanke and Luis Sinisterra secured the latest — a 3-0 win against Fulham.
Iraola arrived from Rayo Vallecano in the offseason with a big reputation, but won only one of his first 11 league games in charge.
That run is a distant memory now as Bournemouth have risen to 10th in the standings.
The form of Solanke has been a big factor in that turnaround with eight goals in his last seven games.