The scoreline may not have been as convincing as Manchester United would’ve liked, but the Reds put in an extremely pleasing performance and now sit top of group A on seven points. Phil Jones and Jonny Evans looked solid as a rock at the back, and the combination of Shinji Kagawa coupled with Wayne Rooney looked superb at times.
United started on the front foot and were in front with just ninety seconds on the clock. Patrice Evra forced an error out of a Sociedad defender, and a bit of brilliance from Wayne Rooney followed. The England striker beat three defenders before curling a shot against the post, which then bounced off their centre-back and rebounded into the back of the net.
The game continued at a fast pace and both sides were looking to get the ball down and play football. Wayne Rooney was once again the driving force for United and he was at the heart of everything good. Antonio Valencia also impressed – he looked confident and often tried to beat his man, he also fired some excellent crosses into the box, causing havoc for the Sociedad defenders.
Shinji Kagawa also impressed. He often cut inside, made some nice little turns, and looked to push United forward whenever possible. He was showing some of the form which he produced on a regular basis at Borussia Dortmund, but he still looked shy in front of goal though.
The Basque’s best chance came from a late first-half free-kick which struck David de Gea’s crossbar, but a solid defensive partnership of Phil Jones and Jonny Evans limited them to long-range shots for the most part.
A 1-0 lead is always precarious because all it takes is one mistake or one moment of genius. Thankfully Sociedad struggled to create any clear cut chances, and United held on for all three points.
A special mention goes to the singing section too. It certainly helped the Old Trafford atmosphere and hopefully it’ll become a permanent thing in the not too distant future.
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