Manchester City were there for the taking but Manchester United failed to put away any of their chances as Sunday’s Manchester derby ended goalless at Old Trafford.
The hosts had 13 shots to City’s nine but only two were on target, as the players failed to make Ederson work with their wayward shooting and lack of confidence in attacking areas.
Just like in the game against Nottingham Forest, the Red Devils looked good on the ball and their link-up play at times showed what Ruben Amorim is working on in training.
But as soon as the ball reached the final third, the players ran out of ideas while the attackers were woeful again, including Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund.
Attackers poor again
In the Argentine’s defence, he tries gamely and kept at it for the whole 90 minutes but the Dane does not look capable of doing even the basics right.
The 20-year-old mis-timed his header from a great position while Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu’s decision-making in the final third also left a lot to be desired.
Manuel Ugarte had a couple of chances as did substitute Joshua Zirkzee, who looked much better than Hojlund after coming on as a second-half substitute.
It is clear to see that the despite Amorims best attempts, this team simply does not have the personnel to affect games up top.
Garnacho, who is not in the best of form, should not be starting so many games but the head coach has no other choice since Amad’s injury and the departures of both Marcus Rashford and Antony with INEOS failing to bring a forward in during the January window.
Baffling market decisions
As for Hojlund, it is clear to see that his confidence is shot at the moment and given Zirkzee is not a natural goalscorer and Chido Obi is too raw, he still keeps getting minutes.
Why United did not target a ruthless striker last summer makes very little sense and that must change in the upcoming window. The Denmark international is young and has been overburdened due to mistakes made in the market.
But at this stage, he either needs a loan or needs to be moved on because Amorim does not have the luxury of time given the poor start to his tenure this term.
He needs to get his act together right from the start of next season or else, INEOS might not look too favourably at him.
The only positive is the fact that the team have done well in their last two games and must take this confidence into the all-important Europa League quarter-final against Olympique Lyon on Thursday. United’s season depends on that game.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
