"Should be dropped for Antony", "Woeful tonight" - Manchester United fans slam attacker for his 'wasteful' performance in win over Luton Town
Manchester United defeated Luton Town 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday, February 18, but several fans on social media were unimpressed with forward Alejandro Garnacho's performance.
Garnacho took credit for an assist when he powered a right-footed volley towards goal, but Rasmus Hojlund was at the right place to chest the ball into the back of the net in the seventh minute.
More notable for the fans, though, were Garnacho's mistakes. He tried a fancy move that nearly allowed Luton to score in the 37th minute. On the cusp of half-time, he passed poorly to Casemiro, leading to the Brazilian's lunging tackle that saw him nearly get sent off. It caused a bit of an argument between the two players, which the fans took note of.
However, the biggest talking point of the game was in the 68th minute when Garnacho missed a huge chance when he was one-on-one with Luton's goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski. The winger decided to run around the goalkeeper, failed to do so properly, and then wasted too much time, which saw the chance eventually thrown away.
Overall, Alejandro Garnacho was noticeably poor in front of goal, taking eight shots without scoring any. He had no successful dribbles from three attempts and lost 11 duels during the game. It's no surprise that many Manchester United fans on social media were rather vocal about their disappointment, with one fan claiming:
"Garnacho should be dropped for Antony next weekend."
Another added:
"Bruno and Garnacho have been woeful tonight."
"Did anyone think garnacho was wasteful today."
Here is a selection of their posts:
Erik ten Hag calls out Manchester United players for missed chances in Luton win
Erik ten Hag was not happy with Manchester United's performance, even though they secured a 2-1 win against Luton. He was especially upset about the team's failure to score more goals from the chances they had, as he explained to Match of the Day (via Mirror):
"I think quick up and, as you say, we had good chances with Garnacho and Rashford, it could have been three or four-nil. After that we lose some focus and we are not so strict in what we should do and they came more in the game. We dropped too deep and allowed them too many passes."
Ten Hag went on to single out Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, and Bruno Fernandes for not taking key chances:
"We gave some chances away and they got the 2-1. That's no good. But after half-time we picked it up. We had several chances. So many chances one against one. I think it was Garnacho, Rashford again, it was Bruno Fernandes. We had so many chances, it should be 3-1 in these moments.”
Manchester United will face Fulham next weekend (24 February) before their fifth-round FA Cup clash against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, February 28. They will be hoping to carry their winning momentum into those games, which come before the all-important derby against local rivals Manchester City on March 3.