3 reasons for Manchester United failure in Twente draw
Manchester United got their UEFA Europa League campaign underway with a disappointing one all draw against Dutch side FC Twente in Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
The host took a first-half lead through Christian Eriksen but couldn’t put the game to bed, eventually allowing FC Twente to get back into the game courtesy of a Sam Lammers’ 68th minute equalizer.
We look at the the reasons behind Manchester United’s failure in the match.
3 reasons for Manchester United failure in Twente draw
1. Individual errors
It proved costly when Christian Eriksen had his pocket picked by Sam Lammers, who made no mistake from a promising position as he leveled the score with a fine finish to the near post.
2. Lack of quality chances creation
Manchester United created 15 chances during the match but not one big chance. Their only goal of the match was as result of a loose touch by a Twente defender. Despite enjoying much of the possession in the first-half, they carried no real threat.
“We have difficulty scoring goals and this needs improvement. We create many chances but we have difficulty scoring them.” ‐ Erik Ten Hag after the game.
How would they not find it difficult to score goals when they’re not creating quality chances ?
3. Lack of killer instinct
Erik Ten Hag’s men looked too comfortable when leading 1-0 and took their foot off the gas. It wasn’t until they conceded the equalizer that they started to wake up again. Unfortunately, Twente wasn’t to be beaten twice on the night.
Speaking after the game, Erik Ten Hag admitted that his side gave their opponent a way back into the game:
“We left them alive. The level dropped in the second half and we gave them a goal. We have to kill the game and they came back into the game after a mistake on our part. We can’t give away a goal like that. We didn’t stop the Twente player.”
Manchester United has now drawn back-to-back games. Erik Ten Hag will hope his men will learn from the mistakes of the night ahead of their crunch meeting with Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
