That third goal...

UDontMessWith24

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Love that Greenwood only needed a touch or two, knew what he wanted to do, and hit the cross in stride with no hesitation. Composure, confidence and perfect execution.
 

Bondathon

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Brilliant from Matic and Greenwood, and the finish from Bruno was so composed!

I hate to mention it in a thread about one of the best goals we’ve scored in years, but Matic’s control and pass really reminded me of David Silva’s assist for Dzeko in the 6-1.
 

Adisa

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In a blink of an eye, we had three players in the box waiting for Greenwood's cross. Loved that.
 

Red00012

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I’ll mention Harry winning the header seeing as it hasn’t been mentioned :D
 

Untd55

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That is the benefit of having players who can pass to a high standard in every position in midfield. You have far more diversity in the way you can attack.
 

kouroux

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Matic.

We've all gone on & on how slow he is, but he covered a lot of ground, quickly, to get out to pressure that cross that Maguire headed out, then Matic was quick enough to get to that headed ball to get it to Mason. Impressive.

Do you credit Bruno for deliberately hitting his volley down? If he hit it flush instead of slightly down, the defender might have blocked it.
Not sure if serious with that last paragraph.
 

Adam-Utd

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I’ll mention Harry winning the header seeing as it hasn’t been mentioned :D
Interestingly the counter against Arsenal also started with Vidic winning a towering header.

Just shows how important an aerially dominant centre back is.
 

Inigo Montoya

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Not sure if serious with that last paragraph.
:lol:

Because Bruno hasn't the technique or the nous to know that hitting it down is likely to give the keeper little chance of stopping it. Bit like this one, Cantona had no idea
 

AltiUn

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T'was a thing of beauty but was it really better than Martial's hat--trick goal against Sheffield United?
It was about the same, scoring two goals like that in nearly consecutive games certainly shows the football's improving.
 

eltigreFalcao

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No one's talking about Pogba commiting to the defensive cause, being the deepest midfielder of the lot. Switched roles with Matic
 

Gator Nate

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No one's talking about Pogba commiting to the defensive cause, being the deepest midfielder of the lot. Switched roles with Matic
You see a lot of such role-switching out there. Several times, Matic was the nex-to-last defender. A lot of criticism is directed at Ole for a "lack of visible style of play," yet I consistently see overlapping coverage. Yes, there are defensive breakdowns, mostly when our line is very high, but I think a lot of "out of position" is by design. I'm not an expert on the old "Total Football," but I think Ole leans in that direction.

And Pogba got on it defensively all over the field several times. Which a lot of folks criticize him for not doing.
 

Denis' cuff

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Not sure about us being ready for a serious title push but looking like we’re a United team again.
 

dutchred

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Not sure what this has to do with the goal, but anyway, this is just hyperbole... our second eleven is easily comparable to that of Chelsea & Liverpool's

Here's Liverpool's second XI

Adrian

???? / Lovren / Matip / Milner

Chamberlain / Keita / Jones

Lallana / Origi / Minamino

Are you saying that that is miles better then ours?
Liverpool have been incredibly lucky with injuries this year but you can't rely on that. The year Leicester won the PL they were also lucky with injuries but see what
happened the next season.
We need back up. Even against Brighton when we substituted after 65 minutes we let them back into the game.
 

kouroux

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:lol:

Because Bruno hasn't the technique or the nous to know that hitting it down is likely to give the keeper little chance of stopping it. Bit like this one, Cantona had no idea
No, that's not the reason. I think we are so much in love with Bruno that we are beginning to exagerate anything he'd do. I don't doubt his skill just that he had the time to process all of that when his main goal was probably to hit it hard and on target.
 

Inigo Montoya

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No, that's not the reason. I think we are so much in love with Bruno that we are beginning to exagerate anything he'd do. I don't doubt his skill just that he had the time to process all of that when his main goal was probably to hit it hard and on target.
..and keep it down, not lean back
 

Andersons Dietician

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I like Greenwood's cross better than Matic's pass... He could have screwed that up in so many ways
Kinda agree. Matic’s pass looks sexy as Fook but it’s pretty easy to execute but that ball from Greenwood to Bruno is much harder and it’s inch perfect. He could have taken the easy way out and gone front post to Martial as well but made the perfect choice and executed it.
 

Annihilate Now!

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Liverpool have been incredibly lucky with injuries this year but you can't rely on that. The year Leicester won the PL they were also lucky with injuries but see what
happened the next season.
We need back up. Even against Brighton when we substituted after 65 minutes we let them back into the game.
We didn't really, we just dropped down a few levels because the game was over... Which is a totally reasonable thing to do when we're trying to conserve energy and the game is over.

Point remains though, or second 11 is easily comparable with any second 11 in the league. Looking at Cities back ups I'd probably include them in that too.
 

mattsville

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Brilliant counter goal, the best part of it for me was Greenwood's composure where he tether's his run to clip it over to Bruno, we waste so many good attacking positions like this with poor delivery, so many other players would have got that ball wrong.
 

Slik

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Of course, part of the process to keep it on target but that's not what i was alluding to at all. There is a difference between keeping a ball down and what was described in that post.
There isn’t a difference really when it comes to a volley in that position. Keeping it down invariably leads to it bouncing off the ground and failure to keep it down is likely to end up over the bar or in the top corner. So in that moment he quickly made the best choice. So yeah, the bounce was calculated. He is a professional footballer who has tried many volleys over the years. He knew exactly what he was doing.
 

Yagami

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I’ll mention Harry winning the header seeing as it hasn’t been mentioned :D
If my memory serves me correctly, I believe Harry had just won another header before that one, too. Love seeing him defend crosses.
 

kouroux

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There isn’t a difference really when it comes to a volley in that position. Keeping it down invariably leads to it bouncing off the ground and failure to keep it down is likely to end up over the bar or in the top corner. So in that moment he quickly made the best choice. So yeah, the bounce was calculated. He is a professional footballer who has tried many volleys over the years. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Of course there is a difference but no point in going around in circles with this now.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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Just been wanking over studying this goal again and a couple more things stand out that didn't in the first place:

1. Rashy's lung-bursting run that opens up the space for Bruno at the far post (this has been mentioned but he deserves more praise does Rashford, as he's struggled for goals since the restart but played ok):

A lot of credit to Rashford on that. Ran some 70 yards and pulled the defender off Bruno. Fantastic goal.
2. Greenwood only takes two touches in the move; a perfect first to set the ball up for the cross and the ball over itself. Mason's economy of movement and touches of the ball is just sensational, particularly for young players who we've all seen overegg the pudding with an ill-advised extra touch.
 

Gator Nate

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Just been wanking over studying this goal again and a couple more things stand out that didn't in the first place:

1. Rashy's lung-bursting run that opens up the space for Bruno at the far post (this has been mentioned but he deserves more praise does Rashford, as he's struggled for goals since the restart but played ok):



2. Greenwood only takes two touches in the move; a perfect first to set the ball up for the cross and the ball over itself. Mason's economy of movement and touches of the ball is just sensational, particularly for young players who we've all seen overegg the pudding with an ill-advised extra touch.
Rashford's off-the-ball movement and build-up play have been highly underrated since the restart. I have no doubt the goals will come, and he's come mighty close on several shots, but he's been contributing to the offensive cause far more than he is being given credit. His mere presence as an offensive threat prevents teams from stacking the defense in any other area.

Greenwood is flat-out clinical.