Managers and goalkeepers are both judged harshly.
In Manchester United’s draw with Burnley at Old Trafford, it was a man Erik ten Hag could have taken off, Antony, who scored their goal.
But his side were then denied victory after an error by Andre Onana. The goalkeeper brushed off early concerns about his ability at United to have an impressive season.
However, a wild lunge that led to a penalty for Burnley cost United dearly. He and Ten Hag will both be judged by that decision and this result.
Here, Dan Sheldon analyses the action from Old Trafford.
Did Ten Hag make the right subs?
The United manager’s changes midway through the second half — taking off Rasmus Hojlund for Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo for Scott McTominay — were initially puzzling, with the latter being met by loud boos.
Amad came on and played through the middle, with McTominay slotting into midfield.
When Amad was getting ready to come on, the expectation was that he would replace Antony, who had been largely anonymous for most of the match.
But Ten Hag can rightly point to it being the correct decision to leave him on, with the £85million winger scoring what should have been United’s winning goal in the 79th minute, brushing off Sander Berge before rolling the ball into the bottom corner.
It was also his first Premier League goal of the season.
Ahead of the Burnley match, Ten Hag said “it is fair” for Amad to receive more game time, only to start Antony ahead of him again.
However, Antony’s goal means Amad will most likely have to continue staying patient before he is named in the club’s starting XI.
Harsh to judge Onana?
For 85 minutes, Andre Onana was excellent — especially in the first half, where he saved five shots, including a brilliant fingertip save to deny Burnley’s Lyle Foster.
But then he had a moment of madness when he tried to claim the ball in the penalty area but managed to miss it completely and wipe out Zeki Amdouni in the process. Amdouni then converted the penalty, sending Onana the wrong way.
Having done so well in keeping Burnley from scoring, it was a throwback to Onana’s early days in a United shirt, where you never quite knew what he was going to do next and whatever he did was often the wrong choice.
But it is worth remembering this is a United team that has a thirst for conceding chances, as they did in this 1-1 draw, yet to concede a sloppy penalty having not long taken the lead will sting.
Who will finish Fernandes’ creativity?
Fernandes is playing more centrally and United are benefitting from that.
The club captain was at the heart of the majority of his side’s attacking play at Old Trafford and created several goalscoring opportunities for his team-mates.
It took no more than two minutes before Fernandes picked out Alejandro Garnacho at the far post with a perfectly weighted pass, only for Garnacho to fail to hit the target.
His energy and endeavour to haul this United team forward can only be applauded, but the number of chances he creates is exceptional.
In the Premier League this season, the 29-year-old has created more than 100 chances for United, which is more than double Garnacho in second.
His seven assists for United is also a club high, while his xGA — the number of goals his passes should have created — before this game was 9.9, only second to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (10.9) in England’s top flight.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
What did Ten Hag say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Manchester United?
Monday, May 6: Crystal Palace (A), Premier League, 8pm GMT, 3pm ET
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(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
