The weekend was already shaping up nicely for Manchester United with their own win to break a five-game winless streak but it became perfect soon.
Firstly, their next opponents in the league, West Ham United handed Erik ten Hag a huge boost due to incidents surrounding their game.
It was followed by Man Utd fans’ vindication over Jadon Sancho vs Liverpool as he was hooked off at half-time after a frustrating performance.
Finally, even the players associated with Manchester United but not at the club, the loanees, impress greatly with one player head and shoulders above any other.
Elyh Harrison is on a roll with Chester FC
Is it possible for a goalkeeper to be “on a roll”? For a forward, it’s simple, score in two or three consecutive games, and the plaudits start pouring in.
But what about a goalkeeper who, after six home games, is yet to concede a single goal for a team that wasn’t an overwhelming favourite in the league at the start of the season?
That’s the feat Man Utd loanee Elyh Harrison managed to achieve in Chester’s latest league game against Scunthorpe United.
The game finished 0-0 and in the process, Harrison kept his sixth clean sheet at home as he takes his first steps in senior football.
After the match, Chester manager Calum McIntyre described Scunthorpe as a “monster of a football club” that will “probably win the division”, which puts added perspective on Harrison’s efforts.
McIntyre told Chester FC TV: “Playing against a side that I believe will win the division, a monster of a football club and a side that are quite rightly at the top of the division going into today’s game.
“If that’s where we’re at and this is how I feel after these games, I think that’s a reflection of how well the players have done over the opening 11 games.”
The club match report praised Harrison’s proactive goalkeeping and sweeping efforts for one instance in particular.
The report said: “Beestin was bearing down on goal and Elyh Harrison rushed out of his box to close down the angle, initially it looked like the incorrect decision but the Manchester United loanee did well to intervene before scurrying back to deny Danny Whitehall.”
A fruitful loan for Harrison
It’s always tricky to select the ideal club for a goalkeeping prospect since there’s only one vacancy in every team and if that decision goes wrong, it’s effectively a whole wasted season.
For Harrison, it has been anything but a waste as he has won over the hearts and minds of Chester fans with his committed displays.
Harrison was recently called “unbelievable” by Chester’s manager and the way he has taken to senior football bodes well for his potential.
He is making it clear that he is already good enough to be a star in the sixth division and if he keeps going on like this, he might skip some divisions entirely for his next loan spell.
That is what Dean Henderson did when he went from sixth-tier Stockport straight to fourth-tier Grimsby Town.
A few years later, he made his first start for the English national team as an established Premier League goalkeeper.
That is an example Harrison can follow of a player who walked the exact same path as him. Harrison would probably want to make it at Old Trafford instead but so did Henderson.
If that’s where he can manage to make his path different from Henderson, United would be very happy indeed.
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