Jose Mourinho’s United team played yet another draw as they slip up again for the 4th place race. United drew 0-0 against relegation troubled Hull City at Old Trafford.
United fail to convert all that pressure:
The tone of the match was set pretty early and Marco Silva’s men were in for a tough day. United had all the possession, throughout the match. But somehow things were not working out for them in the final third. At times they did play some great football and managed to open up Hull City’s defense but just couldn’t get past Jakupovic. Rashford played with some pace and flair down the left flank while Ander Herrera was also influential in the midfield. Rooney started on the bench but came on at half-time replacing Micheal Carrick. Mkhitaryan failed to impact the game and was ultimately replaced by Juan Mata. United once again dominated a game but failed to win it. Mourinho will be really upset as his team are constantly churning out good performances. But the results are not going his way.
A heroic performance from Jakupovic:
Man Utd had some great chances to score and should have ended the match with at least 3 or 4 goals. But Hull goalkeeper kept them out every single time. Jakupovic made some stunning saves to keep a clean sheet. He kept out a Juan Mata shot from point blank range. He also made a somewhat comfortable save from a Marcos Rojo header. And during the dying minutes of the match, he acrobatically kept out Paul Pogba’s shot to deny United once again. Jakupovic pulled out a man of the match performance and if it was not for him then United would have surely won the match.
Hull almost won it:
Hull City almost had then chance to snatch all three points deep into injury time. As United went all out in search of the 3 points, Lazar Markovic broke and shot at De Gea’s goal. Only to be denied by the post. It was a wonderfully disguised shot which had beaten De Gea all ends up. But fortunately for the Spaniard, it hit the post and rebounded back to safety.
Hull City had a one-man advantage:
The referee should have sent off Oumar Niasse not once but twice for two very badly timed and reckless tackles. But Niasse survived both times. The first tackle was on Carrick but to be fair to the referee he was not well sighted. The second challenge was on Rojo, and it was even worse than the first one. But the referee let that go as well. Niasse was clearly living a charmed life and the Hull City coach clearly understood that. And he quickly took off Niasse to protect him and more importantly the outcome of the match.
United slipping away:
This is United’s 9th draw of the season and the loss of points has clearly affected their position on the table. They are now in the 6th position with 42 points. They are four points away from local rivals Manchester City who are on 46 points.
