Up for the fight
In a re-enactment of football 50 years ago, United showed grit as well as flair
FIVE ASIDES Premier League: Leeds 2, United 4
After doubling their usual tally against Brighton, United doubled it again here. And they still managed to blow a lead. The crowd was half the size of Old Trafford and twice as loud: were United going to wilt again? They were not: after one bad minute – and some bad luck, as a fluke of a cross floated over David de Gea’s head – they dug deep, bounced back and scored two more. It was a miniature version of the War of the Roses with Leeds in the role of Richard III, destined to rule only briefly.
Elland Road was a bearpit, and not just in the stands. On Match of the Day 2, the coverage came prefaced with clips from this fixture in the second half of the 20th century – thick mud, bad blood, mass brawls. It was as if the players of the 21st century had watched that and decided to stage a re-enactment. Billy Bremner would have loved it. The pristine pitches of today refuse to turn into a swamp, but this one did its best to become a lake. The tackles were throwbacks and so was the refereeing, which could be described as laissez-unfair. Scott McTominay committed six fouls, one of them brutal, and only received a yellow card for the fifth. He was lucky to stay on the field but he did set the tone, showing that United had a Bremner of their own. And that they were fully up for the fight.
After all the leaks about dressing-room divisions, United pulled themselves together. Harry Maguire showed that you can take the man out of Yorkshire but when you take him back there, he’ll still be very much at home. One element of his slump (for United, not England) had been an inability to score from corners, which are the one chance he gets to lead from the front. When he shrugged off his marker and put away that header, his face was a picture. As well as relief that United had finally converted a corner after 170 failed attempts, you could see his stature flooding back.
Maguire, though, was not the centre-back of the match: Victor Lindelof played a blinder. He worked out that thanks to Leeds’ man-marking system, there was space to run into if he turned himself into an extra midfielder. After half an hour, with United (typically) on top but not in the lead, he played a one-two with Jadon Sancho and went on a run that looked like ending, as so many centre-backs’ sorties do, in nothing much. Just as he was about to be tackled, he improvised a flick to his right to find Sancho again. It was ungainly but effective. The Sancho we saw in the autumn would have played safe, sideways to McTominay or back to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The new improved Sancho had the chutzpah to come up with a beautiful backspun chip that gave Bruno Fernandes a simple header. It was probably aimed at Cristiano Ronaldo, just beyond, but as he’s mysteriously forgotten how to score with his head, it was better off not reaching its target. Ronaldo’s role here was interesting: after ending his drought in midweek, he was widely expected to score again, but was no more than a cog as United added three stylish team goals to Maguire’s header. There was even a crisp finish from Fred. ‘As we say in Brazil,’ Fred remarked later, ‘I carry the piano for the artists to play.’ In Leeds, he played a good tune himself.
Ralf Rangnick is getting there. He has finally come round to the concept of rotation, resting Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford, holding Rafael Varane back and giving Jesse Lingard his first United start in a blue moon (since New Year’s Day 2020). The substitutions were bolder – off went Paul Pogba, who’d been the star of the first half, to keep him fresh for the Champions League – and Rangnick was rewarded with goals from two of the subs, Fred and Anthony Elanga. He will be aware that Leeds without Kalvin Phillips are dream opponents, so easy to slice open. Tonight in Madrid, United face Atletico. The crowd will be much the same, the match quite different – cagey, cautious, a 0-0 waiting to happen. With away goals no longer vital, United might settle for that, but Atletico are not as watertight as they used to be. Here’s hoping Rangnick seizes the night and goes for the win.