Partizan Belgrade 0-1 Manchester United: 3 reasons why the Red Devils won | Europa League 2019-20
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United are back to winning ways, breaking a sequence of 11 winless games away from home. The Red Devils saw off Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, thanks to a lone goal from Anthony Martial.
The last time United were victorious away from home was in the heart of Paris against Neymar's PSG, thanks to a penalty as well.
Solskjaer made a lot of changes to the side, choosing to rest a host of his first-team stars after the battle against Liverpool at Old Trafford last weekend. Harry Maguire sported the armband for this one, and he was flanked by Marcus Rojo and Phil Jones in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
It was a tense affair in Belgrade, as the very noisy crowd inside the Partizan Stadium egged their team on in a bid to score a famous upset.
United were tame in front of goal, with a paltry five shots and just one on target, which turned out to be the decisive goal. Partizan, on the other hand, had 15 shots but failed to trouble the United keeper on several occasions.
Overall it was a very lethargic performance from the frontmen on both sides of the divide.
At the tail end of the first half, Brandon Williams was brought down in the box by Nemanja Miletic. Martial stepped up to confidently send Vladimir Stojkovic the wrong way, putting United ahead and on top of Group L.
In this article, we discuss three reasons why United won the game.
#3 A wasteful Partizan Belgrade attack
United got the win but they failed to dazzle, as they were largely second best when it came to creating goal-scoring opportunities.
Partizan Belgrade took the fight to Solskjaer's men, with the likes of Sadiq Umar and Seydouba Soumah leading the charge against the expensively assembled United rearguard.
The Partizan forward line threatened to breach the United goalmouth on a couple of occasions. However, the strikers were just not clinical enough, as they either sent wayward looking shots towards the United goal or were thwarted by Sergio Romero.
In the final analysis Partizan had an attempt count of 15, with just two on target. With a little bit of calmness when it mattered, they could have come away with at least a point.
Also check out: Champions League Schedule Champions League table Champions league top scorers