Manchester United vs AS Roma Review
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick relieved some of the mounting pressure on his position as his team came back from a 2-0 deficit to secure a 3-2 victory over Roma. For United, their brief sense of security lasted only 11 minutes before Roma took the lead. The goal was straightforward, after losing possession in midfield, United’s defense was breached by a single pass from Rodrigo Mora, and Matías Soule finished the move by scoring one-on-one against Senne Lammens inside the penalty area.
Things quickly went downhill for United, who found themselves two goals behind shortly after. Ayden Heaven was judged to have handled Soule’s shot inside the box, and Donyell Malen calmly converted the penalty from 12 yards, marking his fourth Champions League goal of the season. This also set a record for the earliest time a visiting team has scored twice at Old Trafford in a major European competition. In response, Michael Carrick’s side offered very little and were fortunate not to be three goals down by halftime. Lammens made a strong save to his right to deny a powerful Malen shot destined for the corner, and Soule narrowly missed with a curling effort in the final moments of the half.
Unsurprisingly, United were booed off the pitch at the break. The Red Devils started the second half positively, earning a penalty when Matheus Cunha was fouled by Gianluca Mancini. Bruno Fernandes had his initial penalty saved, but after Bryan Cristante encroached into the area and cleared the rebound, the penalty was retaken. Fernandes made no mistake the second time, scoring to reduce the deficit. Almost immediately from the restart, Bryan Mbeumo was played through and came very close to equalizing, his shot hitting both posts before bouncing away to safety.
United then had some major penalty claims dismissed when Harry Maguire was held at the far post, but referee Jesús Gil Manzano remained unmoved as the Red Devils kept up the pressure on Roma’s goal. Their search for an equalizer finally paid off seven minutes from the end when Cunha capitalized on a mistake by Leonardo Balerdi to finish off Fernandes’ cross, producing what had seemed an unlikely equalizer and setting the stage for an exciting finish.
The storybook ending came for United moments later, as Cunha was set up by Shea Lacey and fired a powerful shot into the near post to secure the winner, potentially saving Carrick’s job ahead of Sunday’s match against Aston Villa. However, the Brazilian was soon brought back down to earth after receiving a second yellow card for a late challenge during stoppage time.
