Man Utd 5-1 Leeds - Goal Analysis

By Kieren Hassan, published on 17/08/21

{Uncaptioned images from the Man Utd official YouTube channel}

The Premier league for Manchester United kicked off with a clash of the ages, Manchester United would line up at home against their fierce rivals Leeds. Last season United came out on top of their rivals with a 6-2 victory but then later in the season they were held to a stalemate 0-0 result at Elland road. With the first full capacity crowd at Old Trafford & the arrival of Jadon Sancho today was sure to be an entertaining game & one in which the fans would enjoy every moment. Little did they know another surprise was on the horizon.

Pre game as the crowd was filling up & the atmosphere was starting to surround the stadium a new arrival was announced. After listing each of his awards & trophies, new signing Raphael Varane was released in front of the packed out stadium. The Stadium erupted & from then on Old Trafford was lively & fully behind the team & the season ahead.

The game had started & Manchester United were on the front foot, Pogba had missed a chance in which most fans thought was a certain goal & the game was looking to be like a game in which if we didn’t score soon, we could live to regret it (although United were on top pretty much all game).

Manchester United 1 - 0 Leeds United

In the 30th minute the result changed & went in Manchester United’s favour with some brilliant play from the reds. Scott Mctominay receives the ball & releases it to a Paul Pogba inside a pocket of space (small red arrow) between the Leeds midfield & defence (black arrow). As Mctominay plays this pass, Bruno Fernandes makes a run behind his tracker seeing that there is a lot of space between the two center backs (large red arrow) with Liam Cooper being just outside of the shot (white arrow).

As Paul Pogba receives the ball, Bruno has already left his marker (red arrow) & is through on goal with Liam Cooper trying to dart back (white arrow), Pogba plays a lovely lofted pass over the defenders & into the area for Bruno to receive (black line).

With Bruno through on goal both Leeds defenders try to get back to block the shot or put him off (white arrows) but Bruno’s touch & movement means he takes it across one of them, cutting both of them out of the play. Meslier tried to come out to stop Bruno getting the ball past him but with a little bit of luck the ball Bruno gets the shot off, bounces off of Meslier & into the net to make it 1-0 (black line).

Manchester United 1 - 1 Leeds United

Manchester United went into HT 1-0 up & needing another to be more comfortable, but just after the break they got the worst start they could’ve asked for. Leeds have the ball & Luke Ayling makes a darting run from just inside the reds half to where he finally shoots (white arrow). Paul Pogba being the closest man in my opinion should be checking his shoulder & given he is closer to the goal than Ayling, that would give him time to cover & either push Ayling wide, or put him off (red arrow). Pogba only really checks his shoulder when Ayling is about to pass him which with momentum means he’s done for & Pogba tries to sprint back but by then it’s too late.

As you can see here, Pogba didn’t catch up, Fred is following his man's run & nobody goes to close Ayling down quick enough once it’s realized that Pogba won’t catch his man. Ayling gets the shot off & take nothing away, it is a top finish but it appears to deflect off of Harry Maguire’s back as he turns to block the shot, leaving David De Gea unable to react in time (black line).

Manchester United 2 - 1 Leeds United

Three minutes after the equalizer United find themselves with another chance, Luke Shaw plays it to Pogba who on the turn see’s Mason Greenwood (bottom left) making a run wide around the Leeds defender, Pogba plays an exceptional ball through to Greenwood.

The pass from Pogba reaches Greenwood further into Leeds half (black line) & then it’s just a foot race for Greenwood to outrun his opponent (red arrow).

Whilst Greenwood is through on goal, he has the option of Daniel James inside the box for a tap-in, but instead decides to take the chance himself, with Greenwood's top finishing Meslier finds himself beaten & the ball going into the far corner (black line) to put the reds ahead.

Manchester United 3 - 1 Leeds United

Two minutes after the second goal Manchester United found themselves getting another chance with Pogba receiving the ball from Fred, on the turn once again he found an option in Bruno Fernandes in a pocket out wide & behind the shoulder of the defender in front. Pogba makes a slight run (small red arrow) & passes it (black line) to Bruno who makes a curved run (curved red arrow) to beat his tracker to the ball in the area.

Bruno receives the ball just inside the area with two defenders in his space (red circle), he could take the shot but being at this angle with a defender right on him the shot is likely to not go in the back of the net. With no real option to help Bruno decides to take a touch further into the area & turn.

After turning, with an almost impossible shot with four defenders & the goalkeeper between the man & goal decides to shoot. Mason Greenwood may have been the better option here, but Bruno takes the shot anyway (black line) & it reaches Luke Ayling who clears the ball, but unfortunately for Leeds it’s just over the line & counts anyway.

Manchester United 4 - 1 Leeds United

Victor Lindelof finds himself just inside the Manchester United half with the ball & spots a run out of picture from Bruno Fernandes, Lindelof shows his passing range by playing this pass (black line).

The ball doesn’t actually reach Fernandes until he’s in the box, on the half volley he shoots (black line), taking the ball into the top corner past Meslier & putting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side 4-1 in the lead, the pass from Lindelof is one of many fantastic passes throughout the game & has shown the understanding of the players making the runs & the players on the ball looking for the runs.

Manchester United 5 - 1 Leeds United

With Leeds United starting to crumble in front of the Stretford End’s eyes, the Red Devil’s wanted another, exploiting space left in behind the Leeds United players. Mctominay plays a pass to Greenwood (black line) who takes a touch to drag the Leeds defender away as Pogba makes a run (red arrow). Whilst this is going on & is a beautiful play from United, it is Fred that also needs to be watched, starting just inside the semi circle for this attack & being the final goalscorer (red circle).

Pogba receives the pass on the edge of the 18 yard box & spots Fred & a few other players in red running into the area, he plays the ball into the box (black line) & Fred makes a run (red arrow) to meet it just inside the box for a shot.

Fred is not a natural goal scorer but makes an impressive run & movement here to find himself set up for a shot at goal. Fred takes the shot (black line) & although not beautifully placed like the other goals, it wrong foots Meslier who finds himself off balance & unable to put a foot out or dive to his left to save it, giving Fred the fifth United goal in the game to wrap it up.

Manchester United totally blew their rivals away here & with the signing of Jadon Sancho being on the bench & making an appearance & Raphael Varane being announced live before the game, some of United’s stars still made sure the eyes were on them. Victor Lindelof getting himself an assist, Fred & Greenwood getting a goal each, Bruno Fernandes registering his first hattrick for Manchester United & Paul Pogba becoming the first Manchester United player to get four assists in one match.

It is certainly a performance & result which has left the fans wanting more & feeling optimistic this season. United fans have the rest of the season to get excited about Raphael Varane & Jadon Sancho putting on that famous red shirt, but today Bruno Fernandes & Paul Pogba put on a world class display that made their names the headline today for all the footballing reasons.