Match report
Solskjaer's reaction
“[Rashford] came on and did well. We want that from the subs. That’s only possible, though, when the others have laid the ground work. What a shift they put in, because Leipzig do make you work. We had to really dig deep and work hard for each other. Spaces open up when you’re winning. Today we had to rest a few because this season is relentless so we had to use the squad .... This group is coming together. The more quality and spirit you have, the better chance you have of [getting] a performance.”
“We made some changes today because of Sunday [against Arsenal in the Premier League] because we’ve played a game less than everyone else in the league and we need to pick up points.”
“Thanks for the great MBM!” declares Chris. “Please stick around long enough to share the inevitable hat-eating mea culpa from Niall O’Keefe?” Ah yes, Rashford providing yet another meal for others.
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Rashford's reaction
“The manager just told us when we came on to try to up the tempo ... there were definitely spaces there and today we managed to find the passes. We got Bruno and Paul on the ball, and had Anthony running forward, and we looked dangerous every time we went forward. It was a real team performance. As a squad we can’t really ask for much more than that in terms of attitude, intensity and determination to kill the game off.”
Stay tuned for as much reaction as we can get for you to today’s match. Solskjaer’s is sure to speak and we may even to hear from Rashford. Doubtless people will be queueing up to try to speak to him. With one shameless exception.
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Full-time: United 5-0 Leipzig
What a satisfying win for United. They’ve started their Champions League campaign by beating two of last season’s semi-finalists to rack up six points from six. This was a disciplined, dynamic and ruthless display. For most of the match they played like an away team, absorbing pressure and looking to counter-attack. Greenwood shot them in front with a deadly finish. And then, in the second half, Fernandes and Rashford came off the bench to take the match away from the German league leaders with a devastating display of opportunism. There were plenty of other good individual performances from United, including Pogba, Fred, Wan-Bissaka, Martial and Shaw. And Solskjaer, too, can take pride from a plan that worked well. Upamecano? Not so much.
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GOAL! United 4-0 Leipzig (Martial pen 87)
After the selfless Rashford delegates penalty-taking duties, Martial strikes the ball low and hard into the corner
GOAL! United 5-0 Leipzig (Rashford 90+1)
Is there nothing he can’t do?! Rashford completes his hat-trick after lovely service from Martial, controlling the ball with on touch and then lashing it into the net from 10 yards. He arrived as a second-half substitute and will depart with the match ball to go with the admiration of a nation!
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88 min: Cavani sweeps the ball into the net with his left foot after a pass from Fernandes. But that one was blatantly offside so it won’t count.
Penalty to United
85 min: Sabitzer is deemed to have brought down Martial after sliding in to dispossess the Frenchman following an attack instigated by Rashford.
84 min: Rashford channels his inner George Best and feints his way past two defenders at the edge of the area, then dodges another one and tries to get off a shot. But it’s blocked.
81 min: United substitutions: Tuanzebe and Cavani on, Wan-Bissaka and Pogba off. Pogba had a good game.
GOAL! United 3-0 Leipzig (Rashford 77)
What a finish! The ever-busy Fred pestered Leipzig into surrendering possession, and when the ball broke to Rashford, the striker took it forward and rifled a powerful low shot beyond the keeper and into the net! The man who saves children from cruel governments in his spare time has wrapped up victory for United!
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76 min: Kluivert, moments after coming on for Kampl, clatters into Pogba and is shown a yellow card.
GOAL! United 2-0 Leipzig (Rashford 74)
As with Greenwood in the first half, VAR upholds the goal for United!
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74 min: Fernandes releases Rashford with a splendid first-time pass. Rashford runs half-way and finishes smartly, then the linesman raises his flag for offside. But the repay suggests Rashford was in his own half when the pass was made. Will VAR allow the goal?
73 min: Rashfords sends Fernandes racing down the right with a lovely flick. The Portuguese fizzes the ball across the six-yard box, fractionally too far for Pogba, who had sprinted into the area in the hope of getting on the end of an assist.
70 min: Freekick to United in a very dangerous position, three yards outside the D. Fernandez dinks it over the wall towards martial, who stretches out his leg but can’t get a crucial touch. A good idea tantalisingly close to successful execution.
69 min: Leipzig have switched into all-out attack mode. They’re throwing even more players forward. Which puts United under more pressure but is also leaving more scope for counter-attacks ...
67 min: United substitution: Fernandes on, Van de Beek off. The Dutchman had a quiet game on his first start. Did nothing wrong but did not exert as much influence as hoped, at least not in an attacking sense.
66 min: Leipzig substitution: Sorloth on, Nkunku off.
64 min: Fred penalised for tripping Poulsen. Freekick to Leipzig about 30 yard, and central. They take it short and then, when they eventually cross. Poulsen sends a looping header towards the top corner. But it’s slow enough for De Gea to be able to react and palm it over the bar.
63 min: United substitutions: Rashford and McTominay on, Greenwood and Matic off.
Leipzig substitution: Sabitzer on, Henrichs off
61 min: The ball drops to Pogba narly 30 yards out. He’s played well, he’s in the mood, a sensational volley into the roof of the net might just be on the cards ... or, as it turns out, the connection might be poor and the ball could trickle sadly wide.
59 min: Upamecano fends off Martial, stopping him from getting a shot away after United launched an attach after Van de Beek won the ball in midfield with a challenge that angered Leipzig.
57 min: Matic hooks the ball clear from inside his own six-yard box. The pressure is building from the visitors, who continue to dominate possession.
55 min: Poulsen and Maguri are having a frank exchange of views after the striker went down in the box as if fouled off the ball by Maguire. The ref isn’t interested.
53 min: Matic catches an opponent with his arm in another aerial challenge. It was very similar to the one that got him a yellow card in the first half. This time he gets away with an angry chiding from the ref.
51 min: Pogba harasses Upamecano into losing possession in United territory, giving United a chance for a rapid counter-attack. United work the ball to Greenwood, whose blaster from the right-hand corner f the box is blocked by the keeper.
49 min: Shaw slides in to poke the ball away from the feet of Henrichs after a flowing Leipzig move. The second half is following the pattern of the first, with Leipzig having most of the play and United absorbing it and looking or chances to counter-attack/
48 min: Upamecano intercepts a loose pass and then strides forward, skipping past Fred. But he then misdirects a cross from the left.
47 min: Henrichs booked for pulling back Pogba after the Frenchman rolled past him by the left touchline.
46 min: Play resumes with a united kickoff.
“I must give credit to the oft-maligned (including by me) Pogba,” ays Duncan Edwards. “He’s drawn a lot of attention from (up to four) players in that half but made the most of a bit of space to set up the goal.” True, and Leipzig haven’t shown any such quality in the final third.
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Half-time: United 1-0 Leipzig
United are half-way to a fine result. It’s been an energetic and disciplined performance in which the hosts have played mainly on the counter-attack. Leipzig have had plenty of possession but United have kept them at bay without straining too much, and Greenwood gave them the lead thanks to a superbly clinical finish after good service by Pogba. Van de Beek hasn’t had much of a look-in yet.
45 min: Corner to Leipzig. Nkunku pulls it back beyond the D, where Angelino collects it and tries to dink a cross towards the back post. But he overhits it and the ball drops out of play.
42 min: A setpiece gives United a chance to threaten again. Shaw floats it over from the left, looking for Maguire. But it’s cleared.
39 min: Martial drops deep into his own half to sabotage a Leipzig move. That sums up how things have been going for the last while.
37 min: The hosts are playing like the away side now. Leipzig are camped in the United half, but Solskjaer’s team are staying tight and disciplined, preventing any breakthroughs. De Gea has been untroubled so far.
35 min: Olmo unloads a shot from 20 yards after sustained possession by Leipzig. It cannons off Maguire’s head and rebounds to safety.
33 min: Matic is booked for fending off Forsberg with his forearm in midfield. The game’s going through a scrappy spell. “I’m afraid Niall O’Keefe, like many others, is talking out of his bottom,” opines Arwell Jones, raising the question as to just how many people can talk out of one man’s bottom. “Who is he to say Ole did not plan this team four games in advance? What last season taught us is that we can’t play the same 11 week in/week out without burning the players out. And each game brings its own challenges which sometimes requires a change of approach. Leave Ole alone please, he’s doing a fine job.” The injury rate at other clubs would suggest there are good grounds for rotating lineups this season, especially with a squad as strong as United’s.
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30 min: It’s been a decent first half hour for United. They’re playing mostly on the counter-attack but have been very diligent and strong in the way they’ve prevented Leipzig from making any inroads and looked threatening when they’ve gone forward, and not only when they scored.
27 min: Upamecano tries to blast one into the top corner from over 25 yards. He misses by miles.
25 min: Two important clearances by Matic in the space of a minute as Leipzig crank up the pressure in search of an equaliser ...
23 min: Leipzig counter-attack. Forberg picks out Nkunku at the right-hand corner of the United box. Nkunky booms a shot towards goal. De Gea bats it out for a corner.
GOAL! United 1-0 Leipzig (Greenwood 21)
Fred won the ball in midfield and gave it to Pogba, who cantered forwad and then slipped a perfect pass through to Greenwood, who finished with impeccable accuracy, shooting low across the keeper and into the far corner. But wait, there’s a VAR review.
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20 min: When one of Leipzig’s back three have the ball United let them keep it ... until they try to enter the home half. That is when the United press is triggered. The hosts are looking well organised and highly driven. As they should be, of course, but it hasn’t always been the case.
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17 min: Fred pings a low pass to Martial, who takes it near the centre circle and spins away from his man before gaining ground and trying to pick out Pogba. He overhits the pass but Pogba sprints to the corner to retrieve it. The move eventually comes to nothing but that was an encouraging bit of play.
15 min: Fred, who has been very busy and effective so far, charges back to hook clear a dangerous-looking cross by Leipzig.
13 min: So far United have pretty much matched Leipzig’s intensity and have pressed well, if not particularly high. Can’t accuse anyone of laziness at this stage.
11 min: This is a gripping enough contest so far, with both sides hinting at real menace. Wan-Bissaka has just had to clear the ball from inside his own six-yard box after a nice move by Leipzig that culminated in a shot by Forsberg.
10 min: Upamecano makes a slack pass in his own half, gifting the ball to Fred, who helps it on quickly to Martial. The Frenchman scampers down the right but fails to pick out one of two teammates who were waiting for it in the box.
7 min: After another bout of pressure from United, Shaw wraps his foot around a shot from 25 yards. He catches it nicely but Poulsen gets his head in the way to stop t reaching the target.
6 min: Kampl clunks into Pogba from behind, giving United a freekick about 30 yards out, near the left touchline. Shaw curls it in. Maguire, soaring beyond the back post , heads it back into the danger zone. It’s cleared as far as Fred, who lets fly from the edge of the area. Gulasci plunges to the left to push it out for a corner.
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4 min: Van de Beek is a very advanced tip of the midfield diamond, looking for every opportunity to dart forward into the gap left when Martial and Greenwood split to let him through. That seems to be the theory, anyway. But United are going to have get a lot more of the ball to put it into practice. So far Leipzig have had most of it.
2 min: It’s been a perky start by the visitors, zipping forward with their customary verve and mesmeric movement.
1 min: Leipzig, wearing all white with red trims, get the game going.
The teams amble out on to the grass, all looking very relaxed and cheerful...
“I fear RB are a significantly sterner prospect than PSG and not sure our defence or indeed midfield will hold them back, especially with a back four,” trumpets Aran Scutcher. “I appreciate OGS doesn’t just have a ‘best 11’ these days and it’s really good to see DVDB starting but Pogba hasn’t shown much recently and not sure I see a future for him at United. On his day he’s wonderful but those days are too few and far between. Hopefully he’ll prove me wrong. Martial needs to get back to scoring ways (for us) too, be great if Cavani teaches him a thing or two. Our defence frailties are well known, Linderlof is like some travelling salesman wondering around the pitch offering freebees to the opposition whilst Maguire has a look of a child staring at a maths exam willing it to reveal its secrets. AWB was great defensively but has obviously been working on his offensive game and seems to be caught out of position a lot more. At least now he only darts for the byline 80% of the time before crossing. This is too depressing, I’ve not even got to Luke Shaw…”
The final result from today’s other game in this group was Basahsekir 0-2 PSG, with Moise Keane bagging both goals after an unhappy spell in the Premier League. The man could be the new Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
“Looking at Oles starting 11 over the past three games, I am increasingly concerned he has no masterplan,” announces Niall O’Keefe. “No long term vision. You would hope he would plan his starting eleven at least four games in advance. Sadly he looks like a lower league manager and is being found out again and again. I doubt tonight will be a repeat of Paris last week.” It certainly won’t be a repeat of Paris, since he seems to be taking a very different approach to this game, which is no bad thing in itself.
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Julian Nagelsmann wants his team to show what they’re all about today: “We have come here to take all three points,” says the Leipzig manager. “That is entirely possible ... They know what qualities we have and what we can do.”
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If you don’t want to know the latest score in this group’s other game, look away now. PSG have just taken the lead at Basaksehir thanks to a 65th-minute goal by Everton Moise Kean.
“Our substitutions will be the difference tonight in a close 2-1 win,” reckons Neil Carter, who I’m going to assume is a United fan. They sure do have strength in depth and it’ll be no surprise if they need those subs to turn this game around.
Teams
Well look at that! Solskjaer has decided to start both Pogba and Van de Beek in what will presumably be a midfield diamond, with Fernandes on the bench. It’ll be interesting to see how Wan-Bissaka and Shaw, full-backs in a flat back four, cope on the flanks. The visitors, meanwhile, will line up with a back three and have made four changes to the side that beat Hertha Berlin at the weekend, with Konaté, Halstenberg, Olmo and Poulsen all coming in.
Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, Matic, Pogba, Van de Beek; Greenwood, Martial
Subs: Henderson, Fosu-Mensah, Mengi, Tuanzebe, Williams, Fernandes, James, Mata, McTominay, Cavani, Ighalo, Rashford
Leipzig: Gulacsi; Konaté, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Henrichs, Forsberg, Kampl, Angelino; Olmo, Poulsen, Nkunku
Subs: Tschauner, Martinez, Orben, Sabitzer, Hwang, Adams, Sorloth, Kluivert, Samardzic, Borkowski, Martel, Wosz
Referee: M Jug (Slovenia)
Preamble
Hello. Manchester United made an ideal start to a tricky Champions League group by winning in Paris last week; now they aim to capitalise on that by doing the business at home to the team whom PSG beat in last season’s semi-final, RB Leipzig. The visitors arrive in fine form: they, too, won their first group game and are top of the Bundesliga. What is more, they did not lose an away trip in this tournament last season, winning three times and drawing once. United, remember, have not won at Old Trafford since Anthony Martial scored a late second-leg winner against LASK Linz in last season’s Europa League.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team selection will be fascinating. Martial is available despite domestic suspension but the real intrigue is at the back and in the middle. Will the manager opt for a three-man central defence? That is what Leipzig tend to use and, of course, it was the system that worked so well against PSG, thanks notably to Axel Tuanzebe. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have played pretty well in the last couple of games but that won’t stop United fans from keeping an envious eye on Leipzig’s young French centreback Dayot Upamecano. United are longstanding admirers of the player – they tried to sign him when he was a teenager – and he is an obvious target if the club decide to spend big on a new centreback next year. But they’ll be hoping United’s attackers make him suffer at Old Trafford today. And what of United’s midfield? Will Solskjaer find a way to fit Donny Van de Beek and/or Paul Pogba into it? Answers to all those questions, and much more, are imminent. Let’s get it on!
