Manchester United

Manchester United defeated Newcastle United 2-0 at St James’ Park on Wednesday evening, and that’s all anyone will remember on the night. But the ramifications of victory are again rosy for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer — the win moves them within three points of Arsenal in fifth; Romelu Lukaku scored for the second-straight game; the maligned Alexis Sanchez came off the bench and got an assist on Marcus Rashford’s strike (the Englishman’s third in four games). 

Christian Pulisic had a difficult year. From missing out on the World Cup to dealing with injury to not being a consistent starter for Borussia Dortmund, you can’t blame the 20-year old for wanting a little change of scenery. Pulisic has been on the radar of big European clubs for quite some time now, and a summer move seems inevitable.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s message as interim manager of Manchester United has been simple: Enjoy yourself. It’s not an earth shattering ethos, except when diametrically opposed to Jose Mourinho’s philosophy of “respect my authority.”

The holiday period is a crazy time for the Premier League. Many of Europe’s top leagues take a break until the new year, but England continues its fixture list with a plethora of matches. The Christmas period is considered one of the toughest periods of the season, as the calendar for England’s top clubs is packed to the brim.

Manchester United’s first match since Jose Mourinho was fired went pretty well. Former super sub striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær came in as interim manager and the Red Devils played with verve and panache unseen in years, crushing Cardiff City.

Think Manchester United is enjoying life without Jose Mourinho?

In the club’s first match since firing the embattled, bitter coach, the Red Devils crushed Cardiff City 5-1, the first time since Alex Ferguson’s final match in 2013 that United scored five goals in a Premier League match. 

Well, it was coming. 

Jose Mourinho was finally sacked as manager of Manchester United. Manchester United’s form this season has been nothing short of poor, recently winning only two of its last seven games — one of the wins coming against bottom-of-the-table Fulham and the other against Champions League strugglers Young Boys.

The Champions League Round of 16 draw results are in, and although we have to wait until mid-February to get started, some things are too tasty to be left on the back-burner for that long. Here’s a look at all eight matchups, and an incredibly scientific ranking of which ties get us all hot and bothered.

Champions League Round of 16 Draw Results 2019, Ranked

Spectacular. The round of 16 draw

Liverpool’s ceaseless hammering of Manchester United finally yielded a breakthrough during a seven-minute second half spell that saw Xherdan Shaqiri score a brace of heavily deflected goals, a just reward for outshooting their opponent 36-6 on the way to a 3-1 win. 

In the end, it was a humiliating footballing lesson for Jose Mourinho’s side, and the only moment of respite for United was a terrible blunder from Alisson that allowed the Red Devils to stay level at 1-1 for 40 totally undeserved minutes.