Section:GDN 1N PaGe:49 Edition Date:190812 Edition:03 Zone: Sent at 12/8/2019 0:18 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Monday 12 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •••
49Less convincing was
United’s tendency
to be overrun.
The defence was
vulnerable
standing, we defended well in shape
and counterattacked well,” he said.
While Martial started in the No 9
position he occupied in pre-season,
Rashford was asked to play wider.
“Marcus played that left -hand/striker
role to perfection today,” said Solskjær.
“Once in a while he is caught out
defensively but that means he can
counterattack. His second goal was
absolutely outstanding, that’s where
we want him running in behind and
not on the touchline crossing in. Mar-
tial’s goal was a typical number nine
goal, that’s where I want him [close in]
and he knows that. That’s where the
number nines get the goals.”
Rashford said: “It was a good start,
in the fi rst half we could have been a
bit sharper but it is to be expected in
the fi rst game. In the second half we
looked sharper and the fi tness work
we have been doing over the summer
pulled us through.”
Frank Lampard’s team were bright
in passages but Chelsea’s manager was
left bemoaning a lack of focus.
“We made four mistakes and they
put them away. It is a reality check for
us all,” he said. “We are Chelsea. We
don’t want to come here and lose 4-0.
It wasn’t a 4-0 game for long periods
but we need to accept it.”
He also defended his selection of
Mason Mount following criticism from
José Mourinho, the former Chelsea
and United manager. “He didn’t like
the performance – is that what he said?
I don’t have to worry too much about
[that],” said Lampard.‘We are Chelsea
- we don’t want
to come here
and lose 4-0’
Continued from back pagelatter struck a superb 70-yard pass
on to Marcus Rashford’s toes and he
beat Kepa Arrizabalaga.
United’s fans were in party mode
and this reconfi gured Solskjær side
were cruising. Twelve months ago
Martial had been close to persona
non grata here due to serious
diff erences with José Mourinho,
the previous manager. Here , he was
handed the centre-forward berth by
Solskjær after being handed the No 9
jersey in a return to the shirt fi rst
occupied under Louis van Gaal when
signing from Monaco in September
- In that season he registered
a personal best for the club of 17
before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s arrival
the following year. If that demotion
contributed to Martial’s demeanour
becoming a kind of quasi-sulk as he
was shifted to the margins under
Mourinho, how Rashford reacted to
his own move wide for Martial was
one of the subplots here.
Rashford’s preferred position is at
centre-forward too, yet after starting
on the left he produced a sparkling
display that suggested he harboured
no dudgeon, his penalty separating
the teams at the break. If Martial
remains a spring chicken at 23, then
Rashford, 21 and Wythenshawe-
born, is the poster boy for the United
tradition of home-reared talent.
Each are emblems of Solskjær’s
move to a trust in youth for this
campaign. In the 21-year-olds Scott
McTominay and Wan-Bissaka, who
made his debut, Pereira and Luke
Shaw (each 23), the manager had
six players who brought the average
outfi eld age of the XI down to 23
years and seven months.
If there are partly practicalities at
play here following a net spend of
only £72m this summer, Solskjær’s
hopes of a bright start to 2019-20
began to be realised when Rashford
smashed in his 17th-minute penalty.
This came after Chelsea had
dominated the contest’s opening
(and would continue to do so until
the interval, at least) but in the run
of Pereira, then Rashford’s burst into
the area before being brought down,
there was encouragement for the
home faithful.
For a period it also injected
an urgency previously lacking.
Suddenly Martial, Rashford
and company were a muscular
proposition, pinning back their
visitors as Wan-Bissaka rampagedalong his right fl ank and Harry
Maguire threatened to swoop in
behind Chelsea for a goal on debut.
Rashford’s fi nishes were a 28th
and 29th in the league in his 112th
appearance, the fi rst 27 coming
at one every 248 minutes. If the
ratio is inferior to Martial’s, whose
previous 34 have arrived every 217
minutes, there was a promising
fl uency between the two here.
Positions were interchanged and,
as part of Solskjær’s plan is to press
from the front, the sight of Martial,
in particular, doing so was a further
plus. Less convincing was United’s
tendency to be overrun. This may
have been a function of Maguire
and Wan-Bissaka being new to the
rear guard but with Emerson and
Tammy Abraham each seeing shots
ping back off David de Gea’s goal
frame and the latter making a savewith his legs from a Ross Barkley
eff ort the defence was vulnerable.
Maguire’s opening contribution of
the second half was to allow Chelsea
to glide past him and he could be
thankful for Victor Lindelöf ’s smart
covering. The former Leicester man
did far better with an interception
and, later, a surge along the left that
launched a United attack.
Ahead of him Martial, for a
passage, became peripheral though
he did still drift into space to pose
Chelsea questions. The issue for the
Frenchman was a lack of service as
Lampard’s team looked the likelier
to score the next goal and maybe go
on to win. At this stage Pogba was
anonymous while Pereira continued
to be prone to ceding possession.
Yet it was his fl ick that led to Martial
winning a rare corner and though
United were toothless from this
now came the grandstand closing
passage from Solskjær’s men.
In this there was even a
memorable late goal from Daniel
James, making his debut as a
replacement and, by the close, the
stadium was close to delirium at a
4-0 win that surely augurs well for
United’s fortunes this season.José Mourinho has ruled Manchester
United and Chelsea out of title
contention – and added that
Manchester City’s “B team” might
be good enough to win the Premier
League. Mourinho was a lively
presence on Sky Sports in the
buildup to the clash between his
former clubs at Old Traff ord, having
signed up as a pundit for the new
season. When asked which teams
he thought could win the title,
Mourinho said: “Four. Manchester
City, Tottenham, Liverpool and
the City B team. When I looked
at the bench [against West Ham],
the players not involved, I think
even the B team could fi ght for the
title.” Mourinho does not expect his
former team to win the league, but
said “the dressing room must feel
they can win the title”. PA MediaMourinho’s City jibe
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