FIVE ASIDES Premier League: United 3, Norwich 2
Result! United won, Spurs lost and so did Arsenal. The perfect trifecta – and a jolt of CPR for United’s chances of squeezing into the top four. Hope flickers again, even if we still suspect that it’s planning to kill us. The final six fixtures would be testing even if United were in form – Liverpool away, Arsenal away, Chelsea home, and three meetings with mid-table teams who are playing well in Brighton, Brentford and Palace. United are surely heading for the Europa League, unless they can somehow steal four points from Anfield and the Emirates combined – and even then they’ll be relying on Spurs being as Spursy as they were against Brighton.
As you walk down Matt Busby Way, most of the shirts sported by the mass of humanity in front of you say RONALDO 7. This was the first time I’d been to Old Trafford since Cristiano’s return against Newcastle, and it was as if mid-September had never ended: a sunny day, an open game, simple goals for Ron of the Rovers. Anybody could have scored the first, served up on a platter by Anthony Elanga’s pressing. The best thing about it was the way Ronaldo directed a man young enough to be his son to join him for his jump-and-turn celebration (the age gap between scorer and provider, 17 years, may be a Premier League record). The second goal was a classic Ronaldo header, the third the free kick we’ve been waiting for all season. He’s so good at finding the treasure that you fear for his kids in their Easter egg hunt today. Great as it was to see him grab another hat-trick, it doesn’t make him a saviour. You can be grateful for his marksmanship, restored after a mid-winter wobble, while still acknowledging that he hasn’t been great for the team. Ronaldo has ended up being a good replacement for Edinson Cavani in terms of goals (Cavani scored 17 last season), but a poor one in terms of defending from the front. Which is what you might have expected when he was signed.
Ralf Rangnick got the game his selection deserved. ‘Pogba the only holding midfielder,’ I wrote in my notes before kick-off. ‘United could easily get sliced open.’ Sure enough, Norwich scored twice from well-constructed moves that met little resistance, whereas United relied on two set pieces and a blunder playing out from the back. Rangnick was presumably keeping Nemanja Matic fresh for Anfield, but he had to bring him on and when he did, after 63 minutes, United suddenly had some solidity.
Before that, they had fluidity, because Rangnick picked Jesse Lingard. Until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went off him, Lingard was a manager’s favourite, with his ability to act as connective tissue. He doesn’t produce the long balls that Bruno Fernandes loves, instead playing quick, springy, give-and-go passes that make him the master of the space around the D. This performance, full of energy and vision, confirmed the suspicion that he’s been criminally under-used this season.
Marcus Rashford was mis-handled again. Dropped after showing signs of being himself again at Everton, he was sent on for only 20 minutes and stationed on the right even though Jadon Sancho’s form is heading the other way. I hope Rangnick was saving Rashford for Anfield, where his pace will be United’s best chance of breaking through Liverpool’s high line. (He might even be a better pick than Ronaldo, who could reasonably be rested for Arsenal.) Against Norwich, all told, United did enough: they had nine shots on target, to Norwich’s four. The players showed that they do still care – even Paul Pogba, who was harshly berated by some fans as he went off. The Glazers were berated too, by far more fans, and rightly so. They’ve been dismal owners.