Manchester United 0 PSV Eindhoven 0
At the final whistle, it was clear to see which team this result favoured the most. As the PSV players embraced and high-fived one another, those in red stood around digesting what it meant before slowly making their way to the tunnel. They had begun the night knowing that a win would put them into the last 16 but it finished Manchester United’s participation in the knockout stages far from certain.
The damage is not irreparable but Louis van Gaal’s team might conceivably have to win their final match against Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena on December 8th. Two points separates the top three teams in Group B and if PSV can win at home against CSKA Moscow, who have already been eliminated, United will be sent into the clunky Thursday-night Sunday-afternoon cycle of the Europa League unless they beat the Bundesliga’s third-placed team.
At the very least, they will have to improve upon another largely prosaic performance, particularly in the second half when Van Gaal’s men appeared to run out of ideas. Once again, the lack of creativity must have been startling for United supporters, though their frustrations were contained for the most part on a night when Old Trafford was lit up to mark the tenth anniversary of George Best’s death.
After seven minutes, marking the shirt number for which he was most synonymous, Old Trafford was illuminated by thousands of spectators holding up the torches on their mobile phones. The idea, borrowing the lyric from The Smiths, was: There is a light that never goes out. The volume went up as the Stretford end went through their repertoire of Best songs and a banner – ‘Georgie - Simply the Best’ – had been put in place.
The problem for United during the rest of the first half was that they were conspicuously short of the old stardust and the current wearer of that famous jersey, Memphis Depay, was struggling to make a telling contribution against the club who sold him in the summer. Van Gaal insists that Depay is the best 21-year-old in the business but there are times when that can seem generous in the extreme, and this was one.
PSV, currently third in the Eredivisie, held out relatively comfortably during the opening 45 minutes. Their Mexican midfielder, Andres Guardado, showed some refined touches and towards the end of the first half they started to create some problems of their own. All the same the better chances fell to the home team and, on the balance of play, United were the more threatening side.
Anthony Martial ought to have done better when the ball ricocheted into his path and he aimed a shot straight at the goalkeeper, Jeroen Zoet, whereas Jesse Lingard was let down by his control when the first opportunity of the night came his way. Martial’s dummy was expertly disguised, leaving Wayne Rooney’s cross for the player running behind him, but Lingard’s touch was heavy and the chance was gone.
Morgan Schneiderlin came close to stabbing in one of Daley Blind’s corners but United, in keeping with their modern style, controlled their opponents without pummelling them the old-fashioned way. This was the sixth time in a dozen home games it has been scoreless at half-time, though it was also true they played with enough energy in that period not to warrant any more the dissatisfied chants that were heard during the last European tie here, against CSKA Moscow.
United often stand accused of a lack of adventure but they did push numbers into attack. At times Chris Smalling would join in, loping over the halfway line in a way that he would never once have dared, and Marcos Rojo’s forward bursts from the left-back spot were another feature. The issue is more the speed at which they move the ball and their inability to work passes behind the opposition defence when this was once one of their stronger points. United were once a team of risk-takers; now, for the most part, they like to play it safe.
Depay was substituted before an hour had been played and if he is not careful his first season at Old Trafford is straying dangerously close to the point where his confidence suffers grievous damage. Ashley Young took over on the left side of United’s attacking quartet and Marouane Fellaini was brought on at the same time for Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The tempo of the game has dropped in the early stages of the second half and the double substitution indicated Van Gaal was not entirely satisfied. Nor, it seemed, were the crowd, with the first plaintive cries of ‘Attack, attack, attack’ audible midway through the second half.
Instead, this was PSV’s best period of the match. Lingard still had the chance to win the match from Young’s deflected cross but his finish went over the crossbar and the game petered out with a perplexing lack of drama.
(Guardian service)
