Ole Gunnar Solskjaer undoubtedly has made his mark at Manchester United. Even if the changes that were made to the side were small, the fruits of those changes are obvious. United haven't lost a single Premier League match since the Baby-faced Assassin took charge, the only blip on the radar being the PSG match.
In prospect, it was a great plan: Get up early, start with Manchester United versus Liverpool in a momentous, top four Premier League clash, and then seamlessly move on to the League Cup final between defending champions Manchester City and crisis-hit Chelsea.
There goes five hours of our day, and we didn’t get a goal to show for it.
Manchester United and Liverpool played to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday with the main talking point being the four first half injury substitutions (three for United, one for Liverpool) that drastically altered the shape of the game.
In the grand scheme of things, the draw sees Liverpool return to the top of the Premier League table with a one-point lead over Manchester City. After Arsenal’s victory over Southampton, the Gunners have overtaken the Red Devils in fourth by a single point.
Miguel Almiron has had a really good few months: an MLS Cup title with Atlanta, a well-earned move to Newcastle and now his first start for the Toon. What was even more special is that Almiron’s first start at St. James’ Park and for Newcastle was a man-of-the-match performance in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
Legendary England goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who was pivotal in bringing his country its only World Cup victory, died earlier this month at the age of 81. On Saturday, his former club Stoke City honored him with this amazing throwback Jack Butland Gordon Banks jersey.
After stalling in the first half, Chelsea managed to turn up the heat and win 3-0 over Malmö FF (5-1 on aggregate) to move on in the UEFA Europa League.
Five yellow cards were handed out before the first goal was scored, four of them being given to Malmö players.
Both Chelsea and Manchester United had a point to prove this evening. Chelsea's been struggling for goals and results lately, and manager Maurizio Sarri has been under pressure from fans and the board. Chelsea has slid from fourth to sixth position in the Premier League, and the Blues needed a result today to steady the ship before the Carabao Cup final on Feb. 24.
On the other hand, Manchester United had been on a great run of form until finally hitting a PSG roadblock in the Champions league.
The FA Cup Fifth Round took center stage in England this past weekend. Nine clubs of the final 16 were from leagues below the Premier League, with the tie of the weekend focused on Newport, Wales.
However, there was very little magic to be found in the results, just quality winning out. Manchester United and Chelsea squared off in the final tie of the round on Monday night. Two first half goals by United saw Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side defeat Chelsea on the road.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was his calm and collected self in his most recent press conference, especially since he revealed that Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial will be injured for some important games.
Martial has a groin injury while Lingard has a hamstring issue.