Norwich City vs MU: Mata becomes the hero, MU is full of hope for top 4

(Baonghean.vn) - Early match of round 37-The Premier League ended with a hard-fought victory for the “Red Devils” in their away trip to Carrow Road against their favorite “prey” - the “Canaries”. Mata scored the only goal and ignited the hope of entering the TOP 4 for coach Van Gaal’s team. Meanwhile, Norwich continued to sink deeper into crisis, waiting to leave the most prestigious tournament in the foggy country.

The “Red Devils” entered the match with much skepticism due to their poor away record (winning only 2/10 recent matches). In the first leg, they were also defeated by Norwich with a score of 2-1 right at Old Trafford. However, coach Van Gaal’s team once again affirmed the superiority of the “big guys” when facing the teams promoted in the Premier League season.

The surprise of this away trip is that coach Van Gaal did not include young talent Rashford in the squad. Replacing Rashford in attack is Memphis Depay, the team's most disappointing signing this season. In addition, Fellaini was suspended for hitting Huth in the draw with Leicester last round. In defense, Blind was left out of the squad, Rojo was pulled into the middle to play as a central defender with Smalling and Darmian was brought in to play as a left-back. Martial was also surprisingly unable to play due to an injury during the warm-up.

Those sudden changes made MU somewhat bewildered in the first 10 minutes. Goalkeeper De Gea had to show his talent very early after Jerome's close-range header from the home side. However, the class of the "superior" helped MU restore order, gain control of the ball, after the first minutes "allowed" the "canaries" to play an exciting attack.

Despite having more possession of the ball, the “Red Devils” played deadlocked, the absence of Martial made MU’s play quite lifeless. The first half of the match was quite boring, when MU attacked without ideas, set pieces and long shots could not score. The only highlight of the “Red Devils” during the first half was Smalling’s header in the 29th minute, but it lacked precision as the ball went over the crossbar.

Smalling's header went over the bar in the first half

At the end of the first half, Norwich was the more proactive team when Jerome, with his physical and fitness advantage, worked quite well independently in attack, making it difficult for Rojo to intercept.

The first half ended goalless. Manchester United had more possession, while Norwich played solidly with a pressing style, fighting fiercely and waiting for their opponents to make mistakes.

In the beginning of the second half, Van Gaal's students continued to put constant pressure on the home team Norwich but the passes were still inaccurate and ineffective. However, when the "Red Devils" were lulling the fans to sleep with their lackluster play, Mata suddenly scored. In the 71st minute, taking advantage of Basong's mistake, striker Rooney stole the ball into the Norwich penalty area, creating an assist for Mata to easily finish close to the goal, scoring the only goal of the match, helping the "Red Devils" leave with 3 full points. For the 5th time in the Premier League, Juan Mata scored against the "Canaries", more than any other team.

Mata became a hero when he helped MU win all 3 points.

With this victory, the "Red Devils" have 63 points, 1 point less than their direct rival Man City, continuing to closely follow the race for a place in the Champions League next season. If Man City draws or loses in the reception of Arsenal at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow (May 8), the opportunity will belong to the Old Trafford team if they win against West Ham in the make-up match in the middle of next week. Meanwhile, relegation seems to be waiting for Norwich when they are still stuck in 19th place, 1 point behind 18th-placed Sunderland but have played one more match. Meanwhile, they are 2 points behind 17th-placed Newcastle. If these two competitors both score points in round 37, Norwich's chance of staying in the league is almost zero.

KIM THUY