Silk and Steel: Five things learned as Manchester United comeback to beat Juventus

In an incredible late burst, Manchester United came from behind to beat Juventus 1-2.

The Italian Champions dominated the state of play for the vast majority of the match, but a late pair of subs transformed things and allowed The Red Devils to pick up a famous and much-needed victory. What did we learn?

1. Silk and Steel

There was one player in United blue who stood head and shoulders above his team-mates. Well, there were two but then Victor Lindelof made an error for Juventus’ goal. So yeah, two players. One was Lindelof, the other was Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman has been in sensational form, scoring five goals in his last five games, and he came into Juventus Stadium looking to carry on that streak in the toughest environment imaginable. As it turns out, he couldn’t get a goal, but he did everything but.

Martial ran Juventus ragged. He didn’t look afraid by the stage, breaking into a pitch-perfect performance that would have dazzled the crowd. He bobbed and weaved and drove at the Italian champions; never with more purpose than when, with less than 10 minutes left, he began charging at Juve.

First with a cutting run from the flank where he left Juan Cuadrado wondering where his ankles went, and then seconds later he did it again, pulling off a graceful pivot that put the brilliant Rodrigo Bentancur on his backside before running infield. These moves earned United the free-kick they equalised from. Pure silk.

Juventus last lost a Champions League group stage match at home in December 2009. So when United inexplicably levelled things up, the obvious result was then a 1-1 draw. Well, nobody told Second Half FC, because they kept on plugging. They won a free-kick out wide on the left and after the silk of Martial, they knew that it was time to use the steel of Marouane Fellaini.

So in came Ashley Young’s cross, a beauty of a delivery that Marouane Fellaini launched himself at. The colossal frame of Fellaini drew the attention of Juve’s best defender, Giorgio Chiellini, meaning that when the ball sailed over the head of the Belgian, it was only the newly shaky Leonardo Bonucci left to orchestrate things.

Bonucci was unsurprisingly lacking in dominance, and of course Wojciech Szczesny in goal has none to speak of, so the ensuing chaos saw the ball bounce in off both Bonucci and Alex Sandro. A comical own goal to seal a monumental win (that Martial almost helped Marcus Rashford to extend with a wonderful pass), a comeback showcasing the precision of United’s silk and the power of United’s steel.

2. Johnny Kills

Juan Mata is an easy man to overlook. He’s short, for one, so it’s easy to look over the top of him. Then he’s also just really splendidly lovely. The kind of man you want to befriend, or marry. Your parents would definitely love him, wouldn’t they? How couldn’t they? He donates 1% of his massive weekly wages to charity as per his Common Goal initiative.

Anyway, Juan Mata is so nice and lovely that it’s very easy to forget that he’s a stone cold killer with the ball at his feet. When he stepped up to take a free-kick with just four minutes left in normal time, no one expected him to score. Not Juan Mata, he’s not the guy. Not for this occasion. This is the Juan Mata who has a last minute assist in a Champions League final. But again, overlooked.

So of course Juan Mata stepped up and gorgeously lifted the ball up and over the wall, arcing it down into the back of the net to give United a draw from almost absolutely nothing. Considering what happened afterwards, this goal was absolutely priceless and just proves that Johnny kills expectations.

3. Unrequited Love

Cristiano Ronaldo’s ban for his first match sending off was reduced to just one game, allowing him to play in the double-header against Manchester United. At Old Trafford, Cristiano was relatively quiet. He rocketed one shot at David De Gea, but that was it.

That was also the only time he’s failed to hurt his former club, a club whose fans still profess a deep and abiding love for Cristiano. It is a love that Cristiano professes to return, but actions speak louder than words and he is absolutely brutal with his former club.

He had two goals in two games prior to drawing a blank at Old Trafford, and he looked determined to set that record straight tonight. From the start he was breaking United’s defensive structure apart with the cold, calculating precision that could land him on an episode of Mindhunter. Ronaldo was ruthless as he tore United limb from limb, constantly finding himself in space to hurt his former club.

Crosses, touches, cutbacks, there was nothing Cristiano couldn’t do. This was a complete destruction, capped off by Cristiano slamming home a sledgehammer after a penetrative run in behind the United defence. After the goal he celebrated in full, flashing his chiselled abdominal muscles for the world to see, showing the Manchester United fans that if they love him, he doesn’t love them.

3. Pogba’s poor return

Whereas Cristiano Ronaldo had no mercy with his former club, Paul Pogba could deliver no such performance against Juventus in Turin. Despite coming into the game in good form, Pogba looked like a deer in headlights in the Juventus Stadium.

Sure, he can’t have been helped by playing ahead of Nemanja Matic, a midfielder so pointless he’s basically a circle. But that cannot be an excuse, such was the breadth and depth of Pogba’s failure. Literally the only good thing he managed to do all game was get fouled for Juan Mata’s free-kick. Well, that and his post-match interview which was nice and honest.

Besides winning that foul (by sticking his body between defender and ball) his touch was heavy, his ideas were ponderous and he showed absolutely none of the killer instinct he usually manages to. United got the win, but their star man will need to buck up his ideas if he wants to take the Premier League Champions apart this coming weekend.

5. Alexis the striker

Barring a couple of big goals, Alexis Sánchez has been absolutely useless for Manchester United since signing from Arsenal almost a year ago. Many have wondered why this is, but if tonight’s game against Juventus is any indication, he’s been playing in the wrong position!

Sanchez has been used wide, primarily on the left, during his stay at Old Trafford and whilst that has always been generally considered to be his best position, in truth it has always encouraged his worst instincts. Playing him up-front, as United did tonight, unleashes him.

As the team’s head striker, suddenly Alexis has full horizontal and vertical freedom to roam. This suits his tendency to drift and drop, because when he does it from up-top he doesn’t rupture team-shape. Moreover his tendency to press is at its most effective here as he can work both centre-backs as well as the opponent’s defensive midfielder.

Against Juve, Alexis was running non-stop. He linked up with all his team-mates, helping United maintain possession when it counted, but he also pushed the tempo and tried to drive his team forward in attack – though he wasn’t at his sharpest in this regard as a lack of game-time clearly leaves him a little bit short of an understanding. He was withdrawn, legs gone, after 79 hard minutes.

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