MU vs Sunderland (3-1): Boxing Day 'scorpion' masterpiece

(Baonghean.vn) - Midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admitted that his scorpion kick at Old Trafford was the best goal of his career. Especially since it was scored on Boxing Day, in a situation where Mkhitaryan was... offside.

Since the time of coach Alex Ferguson, the audience at Old Trafford has been used to receiving "gifts" on Boxing Day. Before the match against Sunderland, Man United had won 18 matches on Boxing Day. Meanwhile, in 24 visits to Old Trafford, the away team lost 16, drew 7 and only won 1 match, so it is understandable that coach David Moyes had difficulty returning to his "old home" of Old Trafford yesterday.

When entering the "turn" of Christmas, although Ivorian center-back Eric Bailly has recovered from injury, coach Mourinho still uses the center-back pair that is playing very well together, Jones and Rojo. In the 4-3-3 formation, the MU midfield with 3 familiar names Ander Herrera, Carrick, Pogba are on the field from the start while Mata replaces captain Rooney to play alongside Ibrahimovic and Lingard.

Midfielder Mkhitaryan scored a scorpion kick at the Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

When Pogba plays aggressively and is allowed to move widely, veteran Carrick always plays alongside the French midfielder to control the midfield, while Sunderland's midfield in a 4-4-2 formation with the names Larsson, Ndong, Denayer, Anichebe becomes completely inferior. If Sunderland's goalkeeper Pickford plays too well and Pogba has not had the chance to score again, MU still has Blind, Ibra and Mkhitaryan with killer instinct.

In the 39th minute, defender Blind (17-MU) entered the Sunderland penalty area from the left wing and shot diagonally after a favorable assist from Ibra (9), opening the score. Striker Ibra (9-MU), in an excellent performance, defeated the Sunderland goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation in the 82nd minute, raising the score to 2-0. But the Boxing Day masterpiece that enchanted the Old Trafford audience came from a player who came off the bench.

At the end of the match, from a pass from Ibra (9-MU) on the right wing, Mkhitaryan created a masterpiece with a scorpion-style backheel to break the Sunderland net. Borini's (9-Sunderland) equalizer, with a beautiful swipe of the ball to beat goalkeeper De Gea, shortening the score to 1-3 for Sunderland, was made in the 90+1 minute, only adding to the joyful atmosphere of the match.

“It was the best goal of my career. I was so happy,” said midfielder Mkhitaryan. “The first thing I did after scoring was to look at my assistants. After I was sure I wasn’t offside, I celebrated. I was actually waiting for a cross to come in front of me. Then I saw the ball behind me. The only thing I could do was to backheel the ball. And I did it.”

In fact, when reviewing the slow-motion replay, Mkhitaryan was offside but the assistant referee did not observe it in time. It was truly a beautiful goal, too classy and containing many lucky elements for MU and for midfielder Mkhitaryan himself. More importantly, this was the 4th consecutive win, making MU players more confident. Right after this beautiful goal, former MU player Gary Neville humorously commented on Sky Sport channel: "It seems that MU's team spirit is getting higher and higher these days. They are gradually looking like... MU".

Looks like MU will easily get 9 points after 3 matches (in 8 days) during Christmas and New Year!

N@T