Finally, United boss Solskjaer makes regret on Ronaldo

Manchester United former boss David Moyes and his West Ham team took their revenge on the Red Devils after falling 2-1 at home in their recent EPL fixture.

West Ham on Wednesday night had the last laugh when they knocked the Red Devils out of the Carabao Cup as they handed United a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now regrets why he handed Ronaldo a though deserved rest on the night as United boss watched his side suffered from lack of clinical finishing with Anthony Martial firing blank throughout the night.

There is no doubt that the Portuguese who had already registered four goals after his three appearances for United since his sensational Old Trafford return was sorely missed.

Understandably, Solskjaer knows that he cannot afford to play Ronaldo in every game this season, but his action to rest the Portuguese on the night might have been regretted after United were sadly dumped out of the Carabao Cup thus narrowing their silverware chances.

“He’s come in and made a difference already,” Solskjaer had told Sky Sports before the third-round clash at Old Trafford. “It’s going to be a long season and he wants to play as much as possible, but every match is not possible.”

Going by Ronaldo’s antecedent no one would have betted against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner  converting at least one of United’s 27 shots against West Ham.

And the most painful thing on the night was see United lose one of their chances for silverware at home before their fans as Manuel Lazini’s early strike decided the game in the visitors’ favour

As expected with the League Cup, this was a game for squad players to stake a claim for a starting spot by making the most of some much-needed game time.

Ronaldo was completely left out of the squad as Solskjaer made 11 changes that saw Donny van de Beek given his second start of the season. Again, Dean Henderson was back after recovering from Covid-19, while Anthony Martial was picked up front for the first time since Ronaldo’s return.

Jesse Lingard and Jadon Sancho made up a front three that occasionally caused problems for the West Ham back-line with individual bursts but, as a unit, they failed to click.

The shots and the chances kept coming but the forwards were not clinical or ruthless enough in the final third, meaning they’ll be lucky to get near the starting line-up for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

This was Martial’s first start since the opening game of the season and it was another performance which reiterated the fact he is simply not a natural No.9.

He spent the majority of the first half drifting out to the left wing, resulting in United lacking a target whenever they managed to get the ball into the box. After the break, meanwhile, Martial didn’t provide the necessary movement to create space or chances for his team-mates.

The Frenchman had one shot on target and a shot accuracy of 33 per cent. So, if he was looking to make a strong case for regular starts, then he missed the mark. Indeed, while there is talk of a Martial rival every season, there has been once again little to suggest that this will be the one when it finally happens.

“I don’t think it’s right to go into individual performances,” Solskjaer said when pressed on Martial’s performance. “Anthony was the same as the rest of the team in that he played some nice football but lacked some of that cutting edge. He knows what we want from him, though. If he keeps on working, he’ll get his chances.”

Meanwhile as expected, Solskjaer is not going to publicly throw his player under the bus but it is hard to imagine how he will become a regular fixture in the starting XI, especially when Ronaldo has all of the traits that Martial appears to lack.

United’s No. 9 was not the only underperformed player on the night. The trio of Lingard, Van de Beek and Sancho all failed to shine.

However, Sancho who yet endured another frustrating night was at least brighter than Martial but as he helplessly still in search of his first United goal.

The England winger who struggled yet again, only had a couple of blocked shots the closest he came to scoring.

Amazingly, Greenwood became the only attacker who managed to add a bit of a spark to United’s attacking play when he was introduced from the bench.

The England attacker who almost scored with his first touch in the half an hour he was on the pitch, created three chances – no other United player managed more.

Agonizingly, the final result was clearly bad. United had only been eliminated in the third round twice in the past 16 seasons, while West Ham had not won at Old Trafford since Carlos Tevez scored a famous winner in 2007.