MANCHESTER, KOMPAS.com - Manchester United mengawali Premier League - kasta teratas Liga Inggris - dengan kemenangan atas Leicester City, Jumat (10/8/2018) atau Sabtu dini hari WIB.
Dua gol kemenangan Manchester United pada pertandingan di Stadion Old Trafford itu dicetak oleh Paul Pogba pada menit ketiga dan Luke Shaw pada menit ke-83. Leicester City memperkecil kedudukan pada pengujung laga lewat Jamie Vardy.
Hasil ini meneruskan tren positif Manchester United yang selalu menang pada laga pembuka Premier League dalam empat musim beruntun atau sejak pekan pertama 2015-2016.
Baca: Review Lengkap Manchester United Vs Leicester City
Berikut adalah lima fakta menarik laga Manchester United vs Leicester City, seperti dilansir dari Opta:
1 - Luke Shaw baru bisa mencetak gol pertamanya bagi Manchester United sejak dibeli pada 2014. Dia butuh 67 pertandingan untuk bisa mencetak gol debutnya bagi Setan Merah.
3 - Gawang Leicester City selalu kemasukan terlebih dahulu pada laga pekan pertama Premier League dalam tiga musim beruntun.
11 - Dalam 11 pertandingan ketika Paul Pogba mencetak gol, Manchester United selalu mengakhiri laga dengan kemenangan. Torehan 11 kemenangan itu merupakan rekor tertinggi di Premier League, menyamai catatan Ryan Babel.
11 - Paul Pogba has scored in 11 Premier League games and ended on the winning side in all of them – a joint-record he shares with Ryan Babel. Charm. pic.twitter.com/ZYQbN5qgxp
Storm clouds remain heavy over Manchester United with even this vital opening Premier League victory against Leicester City failing to lift the dark mood of Jose Mourinho.
Goals from Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw – which felt strangely appropriate given the uncertainty over their futures under Mourinho – were not enough for the manager to move on from his burning sense that he has been badly let down this summer by the club’s hierarchy.
Post-match and Mourinho was talking failed transfer targets and tricky pre-seasons – again – and he made a barbed comment about how managers nowadays should all be re-defined as head coaches such is the power they have had to cede to their clubs. A bit like the fable of the scorpion and the fox he just cannot help himself.
Goodness knows what Mourinho’s reaction would have been had United lost to a reshaped Leicester who preyed on that uncertainty and pushed and pushed before scoring in injury-time through substitute Jamie Vardy. The final play of the match was United watching nervously as a header from a Leicester corner, and with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the home penalty area, drifted wide.
The match itself was a microcosm of how Mourinho is perceived. It was either an important, encouraging win earned through managing the depleted resources available to him – for example using 22-year-old attacking midfielder such as Andreas Pereira in a deeper role – or another example that they are a maddeningly constrained curiosity given the vast resources available to them. They won; but they did not win convincingly.
TRIBUNPONTIANAK.CO.ID - Manchester United Vs Leicester City akan menjadi laga pembuka Liga Inggris musim 2018-2019.
Laga perdana ini akan digelar di Stadion Old Trafford, Sabtu (11/8/2018) pukul 02.oo WIB.
Kondisi Manchester United saat ini, memang belum sepenuhnya ideal.
Jika melihat hasil laga pramusim, Jose Mourinho harus bekerja lebih keras.
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Beberapa pemain mengalami cedera, sementara upaya klub di bursa transfer tak seperti yang diharapkan.
Kabar baiknya, beberapa pemain seperti Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones, dan Romelu Lukaku mempersingkat liburan musim panas mereka untuk bergabung kembali dengan tim beberapa hari lebih awal.
Rashford mungkin akan menjadi pilihan. Dia bermain 63 menit di Allianz Arena akhir pekan lalu.
Mantan bek Manchester United, Rio Ferdinand, bahkan khawatir dengan suasana internal Setan Merah seiring dengan sikap pelatih mereka, Jose Mourinho, selama musim panas 2018.
Jose Mourinho sempat mengeluhkan perihal aktivitas Manchester United selama bursa transfer dan menimbulkan spekulasi soal keretakan hubungannya dengan Ed Woodward, Vice-Chairman klub.
It was the perfect start to the new Premier League for Manchester United as they secured a 2-1 victory over Leicester at Old Trafford.
The match got off to the perfect start as Paul Pogba netted from the penalty spot after just two minutes following a handball in the box.
United continue to battle and would eventually double their lead when Luke Shaw drilled a low effort into the net to secure his first ever senior goal. However, Mourinho's side were sent a late scare when Jamie Vardy headed in deep into injury time.
Speaking after the match Pogba spoke about the difficult return to club football, but praised his teammates for their efforts: “I didn’t have any pre-season game, I came back on Monday. It was very hard and difficult for the legs and stamina. But we played very well.”
Scroll down to see how the action unfolded from Old Trafford.
