Here’s Scott McTominay
“We played well today and I thought we deserved the six goals. Leeds are an amazing team and we’ve done a lot of video analysis on them. It’s nice to score two goals but you don’t want to get carried away - it’s all about the next game. We’re not looking at the league table.
“Last season we were far too inconsistent; we were approaching games not in the right frame of mind, but I feel like this year we have to be so dialled-in and focussed. Today showed that. It’s good to score six at home. We want teams to be worried and scared about us when they come here.”
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A comedown for the ages
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“What was that?” says Mary Waltz. “Answer. Joy!”
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That win moves Manchester United up to third in the table. They’re two points behind Leicester, who they meet next in the league on Boxing Day, and five behind Liverpool with a game in hand on both. Ole out!
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Just one more thing: what the hell was that?
A glorious slugfest comes to an end. That was so much fun, too much fun almost, and there could have been a lot more than eight goals. I feel slightly dazed, so goodness know how the defenders on both sides must feel.
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Full time: Manchester United 6-2 Leeds United
Peep peep!
90+3 min “That was a volleyball-style double dummy from Leeds,” says Hugh Molloy. “90th minute, 6-2 down. Phenomenal.”
90+2 min McTominay, who started this nonsense with two goals in the first three minutes, has limped off with a groin injury. That’s a big blow for United.
90+1 min There will be 12 hours of added time. Cavani has a low shot saved by Meslier.
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90 min Harrison misses a sitter, sliding Raphinha’s cross wide from eight yards after clever dummies from both Rodrigo and Bamford. This game could feasibly have finished 10-6.
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87 min Telles’s corner is headed over by Maguire. That’s the 41st attempt on goal: Manchester 25-16 Leeds.
87 min Mercy.
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86 min Telles’s corner is headed straight at Meslier by Maguire. He rolls the ball out, United win it back straight away, and Meslier makes a terrifric save from Fred!
86 min Telles’s fierce shot from a tight angle is pushed behind at the near post by Meslier.
85 min Martial’s angled through ball finds Cavani, whose low shot is too close to Meslier. James’s follow-up is also saved by Meslier. It was a good double save, but Cavani should really have scored.
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84 min This is the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement that Manchester United have been in a title race at Christmas. I still think Liverpool will run away with it, mind.
83 min “Please tell me,” says Karl Handy, “you think West Brom vs Villa is going to be a much more exciting game than this...”
As we speak, Big Sam is telling Ole to hold his beer, or maybe his pint of wine.
81 min Now Ayling misses a decent chance, heading over from a corner.
80 min Alioski’s cut-back is diverted by the stretching Fred towards Harrison, whose close-range shot is blocked desperately by Maguire. This is joyously bonkers.
80 min I’ve never seen a game of football quite like this. The Expected Goals computer has probably blown up.
79 min McTominay shoots well wide from 30 yards.
78 min There have been 31 shots in this game: Manchester 18-13 Leeds.
A corner was knocked up in the air by Lindelof. Bamford was about to volley it towards goal when he fell over after a challenge from van de Beek. No penalty. Hmm, I’d like to see that again.
VAR check I think this will be a penalty to Leeds.
76 min Here comes Leeds again, and Raphinha wins a corner. They get knocked down...
75 min “I still believe that Leeds are overrated,” says Bogdan Kotarlic. “Yes, they are fun but I prefer watching games that finish 1-0 or 1-1 but with some real and good defending. There are some of us who actually think that good defenders (and there is always less of them) are welcomed to the game and Leeds don`t have them at all.”
I can certainly appreciate that viewpoint, Jose, but Leeds definitely make my world a much better place.
74 min Leeds are still playing with the intensity and optimism of a team who are only one goal down. Their spirit is astonishing.
Stuart Dallas scores a beautiful goal, sweeping a curler into the corner from the edge of the D.
GOAL! Man Utd 6-2 Leeds (Dallas 73)
Hahahaha.
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73 min Man Utd break four on four yet again. McTominay finds Martial, who takes the ball inside Shackleton with his first touch and slides a low shot that is kicked away by Meslier. He should have scored.
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73 min “Leeds have built a reputation for swashbuckling football,” sys Peter Oh, “but today they’ve shown precious little swash and too much buckling.”
72 min Leeds make their final change: Leif Davies replaces Liam Cooper, who is limping heavily.
71 min A couple of substitutions: Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani replace Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
GOAL! Man Utd 6-1 Leeds (Fernandes 70 pen)
Fernandes dances round the ball, jumps on the spot and passes it into the bottom-right corner.
PENALTY TO MANCHESTER UNITED! Martial dinked a loose ball over Struijk, whose followthrough took Martial’s legs from under him. It’s a soft penalty but a penalty nonetheless.
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United broke four on four for the umpteenth time today. McTominay cut inside from the left and drove a long, low pass towards Bruno Fernandes at the far post. It was intercepted by James, who pushed it past Ayling with a fine first touch and drove the ball through the legs of Meslier.
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GOAL! Man Utd 5-1 Leeds (James 66)
Dan James gets a rare Premier League goal!
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66 min “Leeds overrated?” sniffs Tim Stappard. “Ridiculous. In this horrible year they are footballing Pfizer.”
In more ways than one.
65 min de Gea plunges to his right to push Raphinha’s half-volley round the post. I think it was going wide anyway but de Gea took no chances.
61 min “Leeds defence isn’t so much bad as suffering from the same problem as the city’s supermarket – Asda,” says Gary Naylor. “There aren’t enough staff and those that are there are in the wrong place.”
60 min Martial tries to give McTominay a hat-trick with a teasing cross to the far post. Ayling does well to get back and head behind for a corner. Before it is taken, Luke Shaw is replaced by Alex Telles.
59 min “Why no VAR for the James booking?” says Martin Lancon. “Farcical.”
They can’t adjudicate directly on yellow cards, though it would have been overturned had VAR given Man Utd a penalty. It probably wasn’t a foul though, and even if it was I think it was outside the area.
57 min Bruno Fernandes leathers a long-range shot that hits Ayling and spins behind for a corner.
55 min Shaw’s corner grazes the head of the leaping Bruno Fernandes. Approximately 1.4 seconds later, Dallas has a shot blocked by Maguire at the other end.
Summary
52 min James is booked for diving. Manchester United broke four on three, with James on the ball. He ran straight at Cooper, who put his arm across James’s neck on the edge of the area. James fell over, expecting a penalty, and was surprised to see Anthony Taylor’s yellow card. That’s a bit harsh I think.
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50 min: Brilliant save from de Gea! This is glorious stuff. Rodrigo, on the right, curled a brilliant deep cross towards Raphinha at the far post. He sidefooted a fierce close-range volley that was pushed up in the air by de Gea, the kind of marvellous reaction save he used to make every week. The ball eventually rebounded off the far post before Maguire put it behind.
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49 min “Am I the only one who thinks that Bielsa`s Leeds are overrated?” says Bogdan Kotarlic. “They are fit and they play interesting football but their defending is awful.”
I don’t think they’re overrated; they’re just very popular because they’re so much fun.
47 min: Martial misses a sitter! It should be 5-1. Fred won the ball off Dallas in midfield and found Fernandes. He eased a pass through to Martial, who took it beautifully in his stride but slid a low shot wide of the far post.
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46 min Shackleton has gone to right-back, with Dallas moving into midfield. Struijk has taken Phillips’ place in front of the back four.
46 min Peep peep! Manchester United begin the second half. Leeds have made two changes: Pascal Struijk and Jamie Shackleton replace Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich.
“Stunning first half,” says Mark Gale. “Though I truly believe this Manchester United team have what it takes to lose 5-4.”
Imagine Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds. The ‘action areas’ percentages would be 49/2/49.
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Podcast department
Episode two of United Rewind is OUT NOW!@DanielHarris & Rob Smyth look back at a monster of a performance from Robbo, Norman and the rest in the epic 1985 FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool. https://t.co/d2WJnEm5sa#MUFC pic.twitter.com/60FmL2sZhu
— unitedrewind (@unitedrewind) December 9, 2020
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Half-time reading
Yeah, nice one, but did he score his second in the third minute like Scott McTominay?
Half time: Manchester United 4-1 Leeds United
Please don’t ask me to summarise that.
45+1 min “Doogie Howser,” says Matt Dony, “was Keyser Soze all along. (I mean, makes as much sense as this scoreline.)”
You say that, but is anyone surprised by this score? Anything from 6-0 all the way round to 0-6 was conceivable.
45 min Rashford draws a decent save from Meslier with a low left-footed drive from 20 yards.
44 min Man Utd break four on four. Of course they do. Rashrford runs at Ayling, cuts inside and hits a shot that deflects behind off Cooper.
43 min Harrison’s corner is headed over his own bar by Wan-Bissaka. I never thought I’d say this, but Manchester United might need a fifth goal...
GOAL! Man Utd 4-1 Leeds (Cooper 42)
This is sheer delightful (and slightly bonkers) football. Raphinha’s outswinging corner is met emphatically by Cooper, who flicks an accomplished header into the net. De Gea got a hand on it at full stretch and couldn’t keep it out.
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41 min “Hello Rob,” says Geoff Wignall. “There was a time when I thought McTominay looked a real prospect, but he seems to have lost his entire mojo in the last half hour or so.”
39 min Go on, explain it.
38 min Leeds are 4-0 down, and they have covered themselves in glory. Explain that.
Shaw’s outswinging corner was headed on by Martial towards the far post, where Lindelof lost Phillips and slipped the ball under Meslier.
GOAL! Man Utd 4-0 Leeds (Lindelof 37)
Effing hell it’s Victor Lindelof!
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35 min “Doogie Howser,” says David Wall. “He’s exposed as having bought his medical degree from Trump University, is struck off the medical register, and jailed for numerous counts of assault and obtaining drugs under false pretences. But there’s a spin off show, Doogie Howser Prison Kingpin, that is even more successful.”
I knew I recognised that young-looking bloke in Oz.
34 min Dallas’s cross hits James and goes behind for a corner. Phillips’s outswinger is only cleared as far as Raphinha, whose low drive is kicked away by the stretching de Gea. Taat’s good save, though it might not have counted - Harrison, in front of the keeper, was subsequently flagged offside.
32 min Alioski’s stinging shot is blocked by Wan-Bissaka. Leeds are like Tigger, whatever the scoreline.
32 min Manchester United look so dangerous on the counter-attack. With a better final ball and a bit more concentration, they could have had a couple more goals.
31 min Martial runs at Ayling to win a corner for Manchester United. Shaw’s outswinger is headed away well by Cooper, under pressure from Maguire.
30 min “Last year on a business trip to Japan I saw an elderly gentleman in a cafe in the genteel suburb of Shirokanedai in Tokyo,” says Tony Barr. “He was wearing a Scotland home shirt with ‘McTominay’ on the back. I wondered what he had done to inspire such admiration from afar. Today goes some way towards an explanation...”
29 min Another dangerous Manchester United counter-attack ends with James having a shot blocked by Phillips. Leeds go down the other end and Raphinha’s shot hits Fred.
27 min It’s all Leeds at the moment. I suppose if they are going to win a league game at Old Trafford for the first time since 1981, they might as well do it the hard way.
26 min “Leeds is the best marketing tool the Premier League has,” says Mary Waltz. “ am sure the Jose-leaning purists are having seizures at the lack of defence but they don’t get it. There down 3-0 but they are not out of the match. it’s the non-stop action that is so much fun to watch. Even the odd low scoring Leeds fixture is full of action. Give me more of this. Yes, please.”
The Jose-leaning purists? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
25 min Klich lifts in a good cross from the right towards Bamford, who gets in front of Wan-Bissaka but heads over from 10 yards. That was another chance, though not as clear as the earlier one. Leeds, god bless them, haven’t given this up at all.
24 min I said a win would put Manchester United fourth in the table, but if they win by four goals (or 4-1, 5-2 etc) they will jump to third with a game in hand. Solskjaer out!
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22 min “Hi Rob,” says Dexter Stern. “I’m shocked at the revelation you have not watched Batman Begins, which means the moment in The Dark Knight Rises when Miranda Tate announces to Batman SHE is the child of Ra’s Al-Ghul will mean nothing to you. Nothing.”
If anyone spoils the ending of Doogie Howser MD, there’ll be trouble.
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Leeds are picked apart on the break. Rodridgo gives the ball to James on the halfway line and Manchester United set off. Fred surges through midfield and tries to find Martial in the area. He is well tackled by Ayling but the ball falls nicely for Fernandes, who smacks a low drive into the far corner from 10 yards.
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GOAL! Man Utd 3-0 Leeds (Fernandes 20)
Oh my days.
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19 min: Bamford has a goal disallowed for offside! Rodrigo’s shot was half blocked and came to Bamford, who rifled it through the hand of the diving de Gea. Replays confirm he was a couple of yards offside.
18 min Leeds win their first corner. Raphinha’s inswinger rebounds off a couple of defenders and Manchester United clear. I thought that might have hit an arm, though nobody on the field seems interested in what I think.
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16 min Rashford looks in the mood; he has beaten a Leeds defender with a body swerve two or three times already.
3 - Scott McTominay is the first player in Premier League history to score twice in the first three minutes of a match. Madness. pic.twitter.com/QtFGGS1JXa
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 20, 2020
14 min Another good bit of defending from Cooper, who slides to stop Martial’s through ball reaching Rashford.
12 min Scott McTominay scored more goals from open play in the first three minutes than the entire Manchester United team had managed in nine hours of Premier League football at Old Trafford this season.
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11 min “Go football!” says Travis Giblin.
It’s all sorts of fun, this.
10 min Rashford beats Dallas on the edge of the area through sleight of hip and hits a rasping drive that is blocked by Cooper.
9 min “Watching Bielsa’s pre-match interviews, I can’t help but wonder if he is just a front and his translator is the real mastermind,” says Vibhanshu Bisht. “Like Liam Neeson being the real Ra’s Al-Ghul in Batman Begins.”
Thanks for spoiling a 15-year-old film I was probably never going to watch anyway.
8 min: Bamford misses an excellent chance! Leeds should be back in it. Rodrigo played a beautiful first-time pass down the inside-left channel towards Bamford, who held off Lindelof but steered his shot wide of the far post.
7 min Leeds are surging forward, just as they do whether it’s 2-0, 0-0 or 0-2. This could easily end 5-5.
6 min I know it’s been a surreal year, but Scott McTominay scoring two beauties in the first three minutes really is pushing it.
5 min Leeds almost get one back straight away. Harrison’s low cross is taken off Raphinha’s toe by Luke Shaw on the six-yard line. This is hilarious, it’s a basketball match.
This is ridiculous. Shaw’s throw was collected by Martial, who moved infield from the left. McTominay made a barnstorming run into the area, and Martial picked him out with a nice through pass. McTominay took it beautifully in his stride and swept it past Meslier. Another very good finish.
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GOAL! Man Utd 2-0 Leeds (McTominay 3)
Scott McTominay, goal machine.
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Shaw won the ball off Raphinha near the halfway line and found Rashford, who pushed the ball infield to find Bruno Fernandes in a lot of space. Fernandes ran towards the edge of the area and played an invitational square pass to McTominay, who marched onto the ball and spanked a brilliant low drive into the corner.
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GOAL! Man Utd 1-0 Leeds (McTominay 2)
A dream start for Manchester United!
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1 min Peep peep! Leeds, in white, kick off from right to left. Man Utd are in red.
Here come the players. Ach, if only there was a crowd at Old Trafford, even 2,000.
Prediction Manchester United 12-11 Leeds United.
Manchester United v Leeds United is one of the most mouthwatering matches of any season. This one comes with added Bielsa. I cannot wait.
Manchester United will go fourth if they win today, with a game in hand on those above them. A victory for Leeds would lift them into the top ten.
Tottenham were well beaten by Leicester in the 2.15pm game. Daniel Harris will tell you more.
“Hi Rob,” says Conol Huetter. “While Pogba can certainly be a defensive liability and doesn’t deserve to be an automatic pick, his ability to slow the game down and keep the ball could be missed in a game that looks like it will be frantic and end-to-end. Fred, for all his improvement, still loves to dither on the ball, and Leeds could absolutely punish that. I hope I’m wrong.”
Pogba dithers on the ball even more, I’d argue, though I thought he would start after his performance on Thursday.
Pre-match reading
Team news
David de Gea returns in goal for Manchester United, one of five changes from the team that beat Sheffield United on Thursday. Dan James, Scott McTominay, Fred and Luke Shaw replaces Mason Greenwood, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and Alex Telles.
Leeds are unchanged from the team that thumped Newcastle on Wednesday.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Fred; James, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial.
Substitutes: Henderson, Bailly, Telles, Mata, Matic, Cavani, Pogba, van de Beek, Greenwood.
Leeds United (4-1-4-1) Meslier; Dallas, Ayling, Cooper, Alioski; Phillips; Raphinha, Rodrigo, Klich, Harrison; Bamford.
Substitutes: Casilla, Struijk, Davis, Casey, Hernandez, Shackleton, Poveda-Ocampo, Roberts, Costa.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
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Preamble
Hello. Manchester United and Leeds United have a unique rivalry, fuelled by pharmaceutical grade hatred. There’s nothing quite like it in English football. It’s such a shame there will be no crowd at Old Trafford for their first league meeting since 2004, but the match should still be played with a shuddering intensity. You get that with Leeds at the best of times, never mind in a game of this significance.
Leeds won on their last visit to Old Trafford, an FA Cup shock in 2010, but their last league victory here was in 1981. Marcelo Bielsa is already adored by everyone connected with Leeds; imagine if he wins today. His intrepid Athletic Bilbao played Manchester United off the pitch in a Uefa Cup tie in 2012, and Leeds will come with the same aggressive approach. Manchester would be well advised not to make their usual slow start.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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