After gameweek 11, the Premier League table is finally starting to take shape. The somewhat ‘smaller’ teams, like Everton and Aston Villa, who were towards the top of the table in the early weeks, and leading the way in the Premier League betting, are starting to fade away and the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are starting to make their presence felt.
Whilst all eyes are firmly on Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea at the top of the table, Man United have been slowing creeping up on the pacesetters. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was feeling the pressure earlier in the season, as his side won just one of their opening six league games and were wedged deep in the wrong end of the table.
However, the Red Devils have won their last four games on the bounce, beating Everton, West Brom, Southampton and West Ham to climb up to sixth, and they are now just three points behind Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in third, and they boast a game in hand over the Blues.
It’s been an incredible resurgence for the Old Trafford side, and credit where credit is due because it isn’t easy to come out of a rut like that, especially in a season where games are coming at you thick-and-fast in a much more tighter schedule than usual – just ask Mikel Arteta at Arsenal whose side haven’t been able to get out of the blocks so far this season.
However, whilst they deserve praise for the run for four successive wins, it hasn’t always been convincing performances from Solskjær’s men. Against the Toffees, the ever-reliant Bruno Fernandes had to pull the Red Devils out of a hole after Bernard gave Everton an early lead, and it was the Portuguese midfielder’s second half penalty against the Baggies that bagged the three points.
Man United looked down and out on their travels to St. Mary’s, as Southampton took a 2-0 lead, but Fernandes and Cavani inspired a second-half comeback and the Red Devils headed back up north with full points.
Solskjær’s side needed to come back again in their recent outing against West Ham. Tomáš Sou?ek gave the Hammers the lead at half time, but some inspiration from the bench, in the form of Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, spurred the Red Devils onto a 3-1 win.
The win over David Moyes’ men was Man United’s eighth victory on the trot away from home in the Premier League, and it was the fifth time in as many games that they have had to come from behind to nick the points on offer.
Afterwards the Norwegian manager admitted that the second-half comeback was no coincidence.
“When we got the goal and got on the front foot, we looked like ourselves,” Solskjær said. “We’ve done this too many times, coming back from 1-0 down, for it to be a coincidence.
“The players always believe in themselves and trust themselves, there is no shouting or screaming, we believe in our team-mates and ourselves.”
Man United are hot on the tails of the pacesetters and are therefore certainly back in the title race. If their form continues, and they win their game in hand, the teams ahead of them will definitely be feeling the pressure!
However, one thing’s for certain, the Old Trafford faithful will be hoping that their team stop winning the hard way.
