Manchester United beat Sheffield United 2-1 at Bramall Lane on Saturday night in a late kick-off thanks to Diogo Dalot’s incredible strike.
The game saw Manchester United take the lead twice with the second time being definitive.
A massive three points for Erik ten Hag‘s side in what was a difficult game.
Here are five things we learned…
Diogo Dalot heroics
Diogo Dalot with one of the goals of the season did what the attackers couldn’t as he beat Wesley Foderingham from outside the box.
With United passing it around aimlessly outside the box, Dalot had enough as he curled one into the top corner to put United 2-1 up.
Dalot has to be the number one choice ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Dalot is the better footballer as this goal showed here with Wan-Bissaka not capable of such a strike.
McTominay scores again
There was much debate throughout the past week over whether Scott McTominay deserved to start this weekend.
Erik ten Hag thought he did and he repaid that faith once again by scoring a pivotal goal for United.
His opening strike saw him take the initial pass on the chest before volleying it past the Sheffield United keeper.
He may have gave away a penalty for the equaliser but his strike was the only positive of the opening 45 minutes.
United can’t keep a lead
We’ve seen this all season, a United goal has been followed by the opponent getting a goal of their own almost immediately.
While conceding a penalty is different, the mentality issue remains as clearly something happens in these players heads when we score.
Instead of being keen to grab another, they read and switch off and it is a really worrying trait which is creeping into the team this season.
Confidence building performance for Andre Onana
Andre Onana is among United’s most disappointing players this season so far, with countless mistakes adding up which hasn’t inspired confidence in the Cameroonian.
But against Sheffield United he was really solid and barely put a foot wrong, making the penalty all the more disappointing.
Onana made five vital saves according to SofaScore in the game and was dominant in the air, a huge confidence booster and hopefully the first of many.
Improvement needed
Despite picking up a huge three points on a difficult night against the Blades, there is little chance Ten Hag is happy.
It was another game which looked incredibly disjointed as a weaker side dominated for large periods of the game.
Improvement is absolutely needed but for now, this is a massive win and finally some momentum seems to be building.
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