Manchester United are mediocre. They are boring, even their manager Louis van Gaal has admitted they are boring. United fans have taken to whistling at their team to attack, but have only gotten back passes in response. Manchester United are decidedly not the s***, but that changed for 90 minutes this weekend, mostly becuase of a great Anthony Martial goal.
Now, Manchester United used to be the s***. They didn’t just win games, they demolished teams. They won games before they even started; the opposing, weaker sides saw the firepower and defensive stalwarts they were about to go up against, and just gave up. It’s hard to believe that actually used to happen considering the stumbles of United today. But it becomes much easier to believe when you see the kind of breathtaking football that Manchester played back in the day.
Names like Cristino Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Nani, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs combined to run riot across the league. You always believed they could do amazing things.
BUt, as I said before, today things are different, and that's why that great Anthony Martial goal is such a big deal. It was the second in what would end up being a 3 goal triumph over Stoke, a return to form that reminded the world that Manchester United still had class. You wouldn't have been blamed for fogetting it.
Man United scores a first-half goal from open play for the first time in 13 home games, ending a 553-minute scoreless stretch.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 2, 2016
Manchester United hadn’t scored from open play at home in what felt like ages. Against Stoke, it was as if all that pent up frustration and attacking prowess suddenly was let loose.
Here’s the first goal (the one before the great Anthony Martial goal) scored by Jesse Lingard.
And here’s the third.
As an Arsenal fan, I’m not exactly happy that United found their form. As a football fan, I want to party like it’s 2008.
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