A December In-Review of Manchester United, starting with the club's humiliating loss to PSG in the UEFA Champions League, and ending it in a title race.
December is renowned for being one of the busiest months of the year, and the English football game epitomises that. With six game-weeks of the Premier League, two Champions League fixtures and one Carabao Cup game in total, the month can be mentally and physically draining for teams. So how did United keep up with the vicious demands and did their results suffer?
Coming into the month, United sat at an unusual spot of ninth in the league table, although the team had a game in hand over the majority of their rivals. They were five points off the league leaders at the time, which could be narrowed to only two points under the possibility that they won their game in hand. On top of the grueling schedule, December also presented United the challenge of staying in the Champions League and qualifying for the next round, and the Champions League is how the month began.
Wednesday 2nd December: Manchester United 1 - 3 PSG
Manchester United were looking rather comfortable at the top of group H, only for Thomas Tuchel’s side to knock them down a level. In the reverse fixture, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reds took home the win securing three points, thanks to a late Marcus Rashford winner.
Unfortunately, when the French side visited Old Trafford, the game had a very different complexion, with United struggling to keep up with the talent of Neymar, who netted two goals in the fixture. The game finished 3-1 to last season’s finalists of the tournament, and Ole’s side were given an arrow to the knee, adding doubt to their Champions League campaign.
Saturday 5th December: West Ham 1 - 3 Manchester United
The next challenge thrown at United was a trip to the London Stadium to take on former manager David Moyes. As the Reds looked to climb the table, at the time of the game West Ham were performing very well and were placed at fifth from the top. The Red Devils are looking to maintain their 3-game win streak that began earlier in November against Everton.
The match didn’t start well; A badly defended corner led to United chasing the game for the second half as Tomas Soucek scored in the 38th minute. United weren’t going to back down from the challenge and answered back around half-an-hour later with Pogba scoring a beautiful strike and United were back in it.
Minutes later, United had the momentum and had increased their tempo. Mason Greenwood struck home with an outstanding finish putting United in the lead and the game was looking much better. Marcus Rashford added the icing to the cake with a great goal late on, chipping the ball over Fabianski, putting the ball into the back of the net, handing United the win.
This was the first Premier League game of the month too, which saw United move up to 6th in the league.
Tuesday 8th December: RB Leipzig 3 - 2 Manchester United
A must win game when United returned to the Champions League with a trip to Germany. When the two sides met at Old Trafford, it was an incredible display with five goals being put past Péter Gulacsi. United were looking to do the same to secure their place in the next round of the Champions League.
Straight from the get-go, United’s place in the next round was in jeopardy. After conceding two goals in only thirteen minutes, the German side were not holding back in the search for revenge. To add another wound to the game, Solskjaer’s side conceded again in the 69th minute and were 3-0 down with all hope looking lost.
A penalty could have revived the match for United, and it nearly did. Bruno Fernandes added to his goal tally with a late penalty. To further play with the fan’s emotions, an own goal not soon after quickly sparked a comeback for United. But it was all too good to be true, and United had sadly exited the competition, entering the Europa League.
Saturday 12 December: Manchester United 0 - 0 Manchester City
Two weeks before Christmas, Old Trafford hosted Manchester City in a very anticipated Manchester Derby. Both sides started the season later and looked to add to their points tally as they chased most of their rivals, with both holding games in-hand.
The game was fairly slow. For most of the game, it seemed that neither side wanted to commit and it led to a very even tie in the end, with neither side really dominating. It took over 40 minutes in the second half for the first shot on target which didn't result in a goal.
The game ended 0-0 and could be seen as a decent result for United who had come off a tough defeat in midweek. Overall, United remained undefeated in five Premier League games.
Thursday 17th December: Sheffield United 2 - 3 Manchester United
The visit to Bramall Lane began with an ill-suited mistake from Dean Henderson and United were down 1-0 in only five minutes. Although that didn’t go unanswered from the Reds and Marcus Rashford was quick to react to a brilliant pass from Victor Lindelof and with a brilliant finish made it 1-1.
Chris Wilder’s team were struggling for the majority of the season and were bottom of the table. A good result was expected from a team like United. Anthony Martial helped the cause soon after the first goal and tucked away the second chance after Ramsdale saved his first attempt.
Marcus Rashford finished the game with a second goal and sealed the three points with a man of the match performance and two goals. However the action didn’t stop there. David McGoldrick bagged a second past Dean Henderson and the Blades were back in the game. Thankfully, United saw out the game and Henderson made a brilliant save to deny a late equaliser. Yet another game unbeaten in the league.
Sunday 20th December: Manchester United 6 - 2 Leeds United
The old rivalry was reborn with a fixture at Old Trafford. The two teams hadn’t met in the Premier League for 16 years and the game was not one to disappoint. An amazing display from the young Scott Mctominay, who secured the man of the match award and scored two goals in the space of a minute - two beautiful goals as well!
Bruno Fernandes also added two goals onto the scoresheet, one of which was a penalty and the other was a fantastic show of reactions to be the first man to a rebounded shot from Anthony Martial. Daniel James and Victor Lindelof were among the other scorers that helped United reach their six goals.
Despite conceding two, nothing can take away that United had an unbelievable performance against Leeds and it was very promising from the whole squad.
Wednesday 23rd December: Everton 0 - 2 Manchester United
The Carabao Cup fixture at Goodison Park began very slowly. A rotated United squad were attacking Everton for most of the game, and despite the Everton defence seeming to be on-edge, they wouldn’t budge in spite of United’s best efforts.
After 88 minutes of relentless attacking, the Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani, smashed a breathtaking finish with his weaker foot to give United the path into the next round. To top it off, Anthony Martial slotted home an easy finish against a tired Everton defence in the final minutes, allowing United to secure their place in the semi finals of the tournament. A quality performance.
Saturday 26th December: Leicester 2 - 2 Manchester United
An annual Boxing Day fixture and this fixture was of high importance in terms of the title race. Both United and Leicester were desperate to catch up to league-leaders Liverpool.
Hopes were high as United took the lead twice in the game although Jamie Vardy’s equaliser in the final minutes denied Solskjaer's team the three points. Ultimately, the game wasn’t great. It was an opportunity to climb the table and United didn’t capitalise, giving away easy chances.
Tuesday 29th December: Manchester United 1 - 0 Wolves
The final game of 2020, and the match was fairly slow. The result was arguably tough on Wolves who held off United for so long with some great defending. In the end, it was Marcus Rashford's goal that saw United take the lead as well as clinch the three points.
A notable performance within the United camp came from David De Gea, who displayed some fantastic reflex saves and kept a clean sheet overall.
At the end of the month, United didn’t lose a single game in the Premier League and managed to see out 2020, one spot away from 1st in the league. An unfortunate exit from the Champions League can’t take anything away from a spectacular set of results in the Premier League, maintaining their now-nine game unbeaten streak. Here’s to 2021 and hoping United can secure the Premier League title.
Originally published for The United Stand.
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