Pathetic United blow chance to tighten grip on CL spots with catastrophic 1-2 home defeat to Leeds

Manchester United welcomed Leeds United to Old Trafford as they looked to tighten their grip on a Champions League place. First half United started slowly and the visitors had the first real chance. Dominic Calvert-Lewin snuck in and prodded the ball towards goal, but Senne Lammens pulled off a brave save to keep the scores level. The home side failed to take the warning, and Noah Okafor swept home a deserved opener when he was given the space of the penalty box. United had another scare when Lammens played with fire, as he almost let the ball cross over his goal line, but he managed to clear in the nick of time. After 12 minutes, Amad broke forward and collected a pass from Casemiro, but curled his effort into the gloves of Karl Darlow. Gaining in confidence, Casemiro played in Amad again and he skilfully played in Benjamin Sesko, but the Slovenian could only produce a meek shot. The Ivorian was the dangerman for United and he cut in from the right-hand side, but his effort curled wide. A turgid United made a series of errors, which resulted in the visitors grabbing a deserved second. An inexplicable bout of head tennis just inside United’s area resulted in Okafor continuing his fine game with a volley from outside the box, which left Lammens with no chance. It was 2-0 to Leeds and Old Trafford was furious. Michael Carrick’s side found some sort of life, and Cunha fired a fierce effort just over the bar after 35 minutes. Noussair Mazraoui was next to try from range just before half-time, but his effort skewed wildly over after 45 minutes. Shortly after, Lammens and Yoro contrived to create a chance for Leeds out of nothing. Yoro gave the ball away under pressure, after an unnecessarily risky pass by the keeper and it looked like Ao Tanaka would pass the ball in after rounding Lammens, but Lisandro Martinez made a stunning tackle to keep the deficit to two. The half-time whistle blew with a chorus of boos from a disgusted Old Trafford. Second half Benjamin Sesko made a chance out of nothing when he poked the ball through the defender’s legs and brought himself one-on-one with the keeper. His effort was well saved by Darlow though and James Justin cleared off the line with a watchful header. United’s horror evening got even worse when Martinez was sent off after a VAR review in the most ridiculous fashion. Referee Paul Tierney felt the Argentine pulled on Calvert-Lewin’s ponytail, even though the contact seemed minimal at best. The Red Devils responded though and Luke Shaw’s long ball was well taken down by Cunha and his shot was well stopped by Darlow. United kept up the pressure and won a succession of corners without threatening the goal. Finally the Red Devils responded and Casemiro headed in Fernandes’ deep cross to halve the deficit and give the home side some hope with just over 20 minutes left. Leeds responded and the game turned into a basketball game. Lammens saved the home side once more as he stopped Calvert-Lewin’s header on the line. The Red Devils shot back and Cunha had an effort that was swallowed up by Darlow in the Leeds goal. United thought they had forced an equaliser but Sesko’s header was well stopped by the keeper. The home side got even closer from the resulting corner when Casemiro’s header was cleared off the line and Ugarte’s shot was blocked from close range. The clock ticked past the 90 minutes and the officials added seven minutes onto the end. Carrick’s side pushed for an equaliser but could not find one as the away side held on for a rare win at Old Trafford. United must now pick themselves up and require a big performance next week at Stamford Bridge in a huge match. Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.